New York Jury Awards $2 Million in Malpractice Case Over Gender Transitioning Surgery

In New York, a jury has now handed down what it viewed as the first successful lawsuit against doctors accused of malpractice over a gender transitioning surgery. The jury awarded $2 million to Fox Varian, 22, over the double mastectomy performed on her while she was a minor. Psychologist Kenneth Einhorn and surgeon Simon Chin were held responsible in Westchester County Supreme Court in White Plains for standards of care followed by reasonable doctors.

Varian had the “top surgery” at the age of 16 in 2019 with the consent of her mother, who said that she felt pressured into the procedure to avoid the risk of suicide.

Claire Deacon told The Epoch Times that Einhorn allegedly pushed her into the surgery: “This man was just so emphatic, and pushing and pushing, that I felt like there was no good decision.”

Varian’s lawyers focused on Einhorn’s influence in pushing Varian to proceed with the life-changing procedure as a minor. They argued that the doctors overlooked co-existing issues like anxiety, depression, or family dynamics before causing “pain, suffering, and mental anguish of a permanent nature.”

Conversely, counsel for Einhorn and Chin argued that Varian showed improvement after the surgery and lived happily as a male for several years after surgery.

The jury awarded $1.6 million for past and future pain and suffering, and an additional $400,000 for future medical expenses.

The case could be a model for other lawsuits over such surgeries performed on minors. There are more than two dozen such lawsuits currently pending in various courts.

European countries shifted away from medical intervention following the 2024 release in the UK of the Cass report, which raised serious medical concerns over some “gender affirmation” treatments for children.