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.
President Donald Trump has threatened to bring the government to a standstill by refusing to sign any legislation until Congress passes the SAVE America Act, a bill requiring voters to prove their citizenship.
The bill, approved by the U.S. House of Representatives last month, is currently stalled in the Senate. It would require voters to prove their citizenship by submitting a U.S. passport or birth certificate matching the name on their voter ID when registering and present valid photo identification before casting a ballot. The measure would also require states to share voter information with the Department of Homeland Security to verify citizenship.
The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James has ordered NYU Langone Health to resume providing puberty blockers and hormone treatments to transgender youth following the closure of its Transgender Youth Health Program.
NYU Langone Health shut down the clinic providing gender-affirming care to transgender minors last month, citing "the current regulatory environment" as one of several reasons for the move.
The decision came just months after the Trump administration moved to adopt regulations that would bar Medicaid funds from covering transition-related treatments for people under 19 and threatened to yank federal funding from hospitals that provide such treatments to minors. Those regulations have not yet been finalized and remain in the federal rulemaking process.
Mental health providers licensed in Texas are barred from offering therapy that could be interpreted as assisting minors in transitioning, according to a legal opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
In the February 27 opinion, Paxton responded to an inquiry from Darrel Spinks, executive director of the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council, about whether a 2023 law applies to licensed therapists and counselors.
The law, Senate Bill 14, bans health care providers from providing or facilitating treatments for minors -- including puberty blockers, hormones, or surgical interventions -- intended to help them medically transition. It also prohibits public funds, including Medicaid, from covering the cost of transition-related care.
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