First detransitioner medical malpractice lawsuit to go to trial leads to $2M award

February 3, 2026

For the first time, a detransitioner’s malpractice case has gone before a jury and the trial has ended in a financial judgment against her former psychologist and plastic surgeon.

The Christian Post reports that a New York jury awarded $2 million to 22-year-old Fox Varian who sued her former psychologist and plastic surgeon for malpractice over a double mastectomy she received at 16.

Varian, who identified as transgender at the time of the surgery and has since detransitioned, was awarded $1.6 million for past and future pain and suffering and $400,000 for future medical expenses.

Jurors concluded that the providers did not follow adequate protocols, including thorough communication and evaluation prior to performing surgery, and determined that the failures constituted a “departure from the standard of care.”

According to the Christian Post, the lawsuit did not question the general legality or medical appropriateness of gender-transition treatments for minors, but rather asserted that in Varian’s case, they were provided without sufficient scrutiny or coordination.

Attorneys for Varian’s psychologist, Dr. Kenneth Einhorn, argued that Varian had previously made self-harm threats and that such fears were not instigated by her therapist.

The jury ultimately sided with Varian on the claim of medical negligence despite the defendants claiming that their clinical decisions followed existing guidelines and that Varian had expressed a strong desire to transition.

The case of Varian v. Einhorn sets a precedent for other detransitioners seeking legal remedies.

More than two dozen states have enacted policies banning the provision of irreversible body-mutilating sex-change surgeries and hormone drugs to minors.

Photo: top, Credit: Getty Images