By Stacy Robinson, Darlene McCormick Sanchez
‘This case is a huge leap … every doctor and clinic involved in this fad should be very afraid for what comes next,’ a detransitioner said.
A first-of-its-kind jury verdict against medical professionals in a suit brought by a young woman who used to identify as transgender is being seen as a watershed moment for other “detransitioners.” A detransitioner is a person who has stopped or reversed a gender transition they previously started.
The landmark verdict on Jan. 30 held a surgeon and psychologist liable for malpractice in how they dealt with Fox Varian prior to her double mastectomy at the age of 16. In total, a New York jury awarded 22-year-old Varian $1.6 million for pain and suffering, as well as $400,000 for future medical expenses.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier predicted that more lawsuits are coming.
“The success of this case is a huge leap for the detransitioner movement, and every doctor and clinic involved in this fad should be very afraid for what comes next,” Cole told The Epoch Times via text.
Although the legal implications of Varian’s case are limited, experts told The Epoch Times that future cases may follow a similar pattern, with juries finding that health care professionals rushed clients into these procedures without due consideration.
Legal Win
Varian’s case goes back to September 2018, when she was suffering from psychological issues such as depression and eating disorders. She had been questioning her gender for years and informed her psychologist, Kenneth Einhorn, that she wanted to change her name from Isabelle to Gabriel or Gabe. She later switched to Rowan, then Fox.
Other gender-related changes followed rapidly, including the use of he/him or they/them pronouns and the decision to wear a chest binder to conceal her breasts.
In March 2019, she brought up the topic of breast removal, also known as “top surgery.”
The jury found Einhorn and surgeon Dr. Simon Chin liable for malpractice on multiple points, including failing to communicate about Varian’s condition. For example, an October 2019 letter Einhorn wrote to Chin in support of Varian’s surgery contained errors and omitted certain coexisting mental issues, such as autism and depression.
They also faulted Chin for not consulting further with Einhorn, since the letter did not contain an explicit diagnosis of gender dysphoria. Chin testified that the letter outlined the diagnosis and that, along with his consultations with Varian, it was sufficient to proceed with the surgery.
Verdict Offers Hope to Plaintiffs, Attorneys
Attorneys and others, including Varian, responded to the verdict with hope that it would lead to similar outcomes in future legal disputes.
Cole sued Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, doctors, and therapists after surgeons removed both her breasts when she was 15.
Her case, filed by the nonprofit law firm Center for American Liberty and others, is headed to trial after California’s Third Appellate District ruled last fall that it did not have to go to arbitration.
Cole said doctors have a responsibility to steer children and families toward reality instead of “permanent mutilation” and that their failure should have consequences.
“As medical professionals, they are well aware that children are developmentally incapable of making permanent decisions, especially ones that will lead to them being incapable of having their own children or full sexual function once they become adults,” she said.
Mark Trammell, CEO of the Center for American Liberty, said in a statement that the verdict “confirms that accountability is possible and that doctors are not above the law.”
Josh Payne, co-founder of the Campbell Miller Payne law firm, has secured millions of dollars in settlements for clients in suits that resembled Varian’s and has 12 cases pending.
“These facts and facts like them are in case after case after case after case, where the client has multiple coexisting mental health issues,” Payne told The Epoch Times.
The Themis Resource Fund, a nonprofit that funds cases such as Varian’s, lists 23 detransitioner cases, with most having been filed between 2022 and 2024. However, many have been dismissed or settled or are still pending.
In Dallas, a detransitioner who goes by the name Abel Garcia said the lawsuit was a step in the right direction. Garcia was 19 in 2016 when he began hormones and received breast implants to appear feminine.
“I would say, personally, as someone who has been harmed, I’m happy to hear that a fellow detransitioner has been able to sue,” Garcia told The Epoch Times.
Both he and Cole thought the award was inadequate compensation for the injuries Varian suffered.
Implications for Future Cases
Although opponents of such procedures expect the verdict will lead to many new cases, it’s not clear how those cases will play out. Attorneys said Varian’s verdict was specific to her case and did not create a binding legal precedent for other cases.
Varian’s attorney, Adam Deutsch, noted that his client’s case did not oppose “gender-affirming care” in principle but rather the way Varian was treated in particular.
“This case was not a statement or referendum on the appropriateness of ‘gender-affirming care’ for adults or minors. Instead, it was about whether physicians adhered to their professional and ethical obligations when providing that care to Fox,” Deutsch told The Epoch Times via email.
Andrea Picciotti Bayer, an attorney and director of the socially conservative Conscience Project, said that might be true, but with a caveat.
“The binding nature of this kind of case is very limited,” Bayer said, since the verdict was based on Varian and her family’s specific interactions with her health care providers.
“Having said that, the fact that it’s public is significant in that it’s going to encourage other people who were subjected to this kind of hasty medical intervention to file claims.”
Jonathan Hullihan, general counsel at Remnant Law Firm in The Woodlands, Texas, previously defended Texas doctors who wrote prescriptions for ivermectin during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hullihan called the New York lawsuit’s outcome a “watershed moment” but said the biggest obstacle to detransitioner lawsuits was the statute of limitations for medical malpractice in many states. However, the legal victory could steer the medical community away from using hormones and surgery on gender dysphoric children.
“Malpractice insurers will almost certainly reclassify gender reassignment medical procedures as higher-risk, driving up premiums and potentially limiting access to coverage,” Hullihan told The Epoch Times.
Roger Severino, a former federal prosecutor, said the verdict in New York may be indicative of how juries elsewhere will rule. Members of the jury declined to speak with the media immediately following the verdict, but Severino noted that in 2024, Westchester County demographics showed the area was nearly 63 percent Democratic.
“If a 63 percent liberal jurisdiction gives this family $2 million, that’s a strong rebuke of gender ideology,” Severino, who serves as vice president of economic and domestic policy at The Heritage Foundation, told The Epoch Times.
On Feb. 3, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons became the first medical group to recommend against gender-related surgeries for minors.
“Available evidence suggests that a substantial proportion of children with prepubertal onset general dysphoria experience resolution or significant reduction of distress by the time they reach adulthood, absent medical or surgical intervention,” the statement reads.
In light of this, the group recommended that surgeons delay gender-related surgeries until a patient is at least 19 years old.
“There is insufficient evidence demonstrating a favorable risk-benefit ratio for the pathway of gender-related endocrine and surgical interventions in children and adolescents,” the group stated.
