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A $2 million jury verdict is giving momentum to lawsuits against doctors who perform gender transition surgeries on minors. Chloe Cole, who detransitioned and advocates for similar cases, said the verdict will set a “massive precedent.”
The plaintiff, Fox Varian, was 16 years old when doctors performed a double mastectomy. Now, as an adult who no longer identifies as transgender, Varian argues she was not mentally well or mature enough to make the life-altering medical decision as a minor.
On Jan. 30, a New York jury found two medical professionals involved in Varian’s case liable for malpractice, saying they had skipped key steps when determining whether irreversible surgery was the best course of action.
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Detransitioner and activist Chloe Cole outside the Supreme Court building during oral arguments in the Skrmetti vs. U.S. case on Dec. 4, 2024. (Fox News Digital)
Cole said the verdict could influence future cases involving patients who regret medical transitions they underwent as minors. Cole currently has a lawsuit pending related to her own gender transition that began when she was 12.
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“We finally have organizational backing on this idea that these procedures, especially the surgeries, are harmful for kids,” Cole said on “Fox & Friends Weekend,” referring to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons‘ (ASPS) recent announcement recommending against gender transition surgeries for young patients.
A transgender rights supporter takes part in a rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court as the justices hear arguments in a case on transgender health rights in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 4, 2024. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“We now have a legal precedent as well for attorneys to look to when they’re helping detransition patients get legal justice,” she added.
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The ASPS updated its guidance earlier this month, recommending “surgeons delay gender-related breast/chest, genital, and facial surgery until a patient is at least 19 years old.”
Chloe Cole speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 20, 2022. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
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The group said it found “insufficient evidence” that the procedures have a positive risk-benefit ratio.
Cole believes the new guidance and recent legal victory could lead to a wave of additional lawsuits.
“These lawsuits are going to flood the court system and make it so that these doctors realize that there is a huge liability to these procedures and give them no other sane choice but to stop doing this to children,” she said.
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