A New York State jury has awarded $2 million to a woman who underwent a double mastectomy at age 16 as part of treatment for gender dysphoria.
The verdict, which marks the first successful medical malpractice lawsuit brought by a detransitioner, was announced last week following a three-week trial in White Plains, N.Y.
The plaintiff, 22-year-old Fox Varian of Yorktown Heights, accused her psychologist, Kenneth Einhorn, and plastic surgeon, Dr. Simon Chin, of failing to obtain adequate consent by fully informing her of the risks associated with the procedure before she agreed to undergo it in 2019.
Varian alleged that Einhorn and Chin deviated from accepted standards of care governing gender-related medical treatment when they treated her and approved the surgery.
Varian, who was 16 at the time of the surgery, was assigned female at birth and identified as male as a teenager. She later expressed regret over medically transitioning and now identifies as a woman, according to The New York Times.
According to the Free Press, Varian’s parents separated when she was seven, leading to a prolonged custody dispute and estrangement from her father. She later struggled with multiple mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, and social phobia, was diagnosed with autism at 14, and experienced eating disorders and body-image issues.
At age 15, Varian began questioning her gender, according to court documents. She changed her name to Rowan, began binding her breasts, and expressed an interest in transitioning to Einhorn, who had been treating her for two years and had no formal training in transgender-specific care.
Einhorn said he suggested hormone blockers as an initial step, but that Varian insisted on undergoing a double mastectomy, also known as “top surgery.” Nine months after she expressed a desire to transition, Einhorn referred her to Chin, describing her diagnosis as “body dysmorphia” rather than gender dysphoria — even though surgery is typically advised only for dysphoria. Einhorn later said he used the term for insurance billing purposes.
Varian’s mother, Claire Deacon, a licensed practical nurse, testified that she initially balked at the prospect of surgery, saying the idea made her “physically ill.” Deacon further testified that she felt pressured by Einhorn to consent to the surgery, saying he insisted it would improve her daughter’s health and warned that, without the procedure, she might become suicidal.
Einhorn denied making the comments to Deacon.
The crux of the case, Varian’s attorney Adam Deutsch argued, was inadequate communication between Einhorn and Varian, as well as between Einhorn and Chin.
Einhorn recommended that Varian seek additional counseling at an LGBTQ nonprofit, but never followed up, according to Deutsch. Had he done so, he would have discovered that Varian told a counselor that she was still unsure of her gender identity. Less than five months later, she underwent surgery. Deutsch also argued at trial that Einhorn and Chin allegedly failed to communicate with each other, leading them to move too quickly toward surgery.
At trial, lawyers for Einhorn and Chin argued that Varian sought the procedure and that Deacon granted consent.
Deutsch countered that the doctors wrongly assumed Varian suffered from gender dysphoria and failed to fully inform her of the risks and effects of “top surgery” and alternative treatments. He also argued that Einhorn and Chin should have ensured Varian’s other psychological conditions — including anorexia, depression, ADHD, autism, and body dysmorphia — were “well-controlled” before recommending or approving the surgery.
The jury ultimately ruled in Varian’s favor.
Following the verdict, Deutsch downplayed the case’s potential impact on other detransitioner lawsuits, emphasizing that it centered on medical malpractice.
“This was never a debate over the legitimacy of gender-affirming care,” he said. “It was about whether medical professionals met the standards that covered their own profession.”
Many advocates of gender-affirming care agreed. Dr. Loren Schechter, an expert on transgender health care and president-elect of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, testified for the plaintiffs, arguing that the decision to approve the surgery was based on “assumption and inference.”
“This case was a medical malpractice case, not a referendum on gender-affirming care,” WPATH said in a statement responding to the verdict. “When care is delivered ethically and responsibly within these guidelines, the integrity of the field is strengthened.”
Currently, 28 detransitioner lawsuits — many alleging that doctors rushed patients with gender dysphoria into surgical interventions — are working their way through U.S. courts, according to the New York Post. It remains unclear what impact the verdict in Varian’s case will have on those cases.
A new report finds that acceptance of LGBTQ people is declining across the United States, with nearly three in ten LGBTQ adults saying attitudes toward their community have worsened.
On Thursday, January 15, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation released findings from its Annual LGBTQ+ Community Survey, which drew responses from nearly 15,000 U.S. adults -- roughly two-thirds of whom identified as LGBTQ.
In addition to the survey, HRC last year launched its "American Dreams Tour," traveling to 10 cities and engaging more than 5,000 people through town halls, trainings, and community meetings with local LGBTQ leaders and activists. Those on-the-ground conversations informed the report, which aims to assess the state of LGBTQ life in the United States one year into the second Trump administration.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has launched an investigation into Seattle Children's Hospital over its alleged provision of gender-affirming care to transgender minors, a practice the Trump administration has aggressively sought to end.
In a post on X, the HHS official account said the hospital had been referred to the Office of the Inspector General for "failure to meet professional recognized standards of health care" under a declaration issued on December 18 by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., according to The Hill.
A recent study of injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis found that twice-yearly injections of lenacapavir -- marketed as Yeztugo by Gilead Sciences -- do not have clinically significant interactions with gender-affirming hormone therapy.
"In the most gender-diverse Phase III PrEP trial conducted to date, lenacapavir had no clinically significant impact on feminizing or masculinizing gender-affirming therapy concentrations," the study’s researchers concluded, as reported by POZ.
The study, led by Dr. Jill Blumenthal of the University of California San Diego, examined whether lenacapavir interacts with gender-affirming hormone therapy, including estradiol (a form of estrogen) and testosterone. Because those hormones are metabolized by enzymes such as CYP3A4 -- which lenacapavir can inhibit -- the researchers analyzed whether the drug altered hormone levels.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.