Patient awarded $2M by jury in malpractice suit over gender-care surgery

In a legal first, a jury in New York has awarded $2 million in damages to a patient who received gender-affirming surgery as a minor. (Image from Shutterstock)
In a legal first, a jury in New York has awarded $2 million in damages to a patient who received gender-affirming surgery as a minor.
The plaintiff, Fox Varian, 22, of Yorktown Heights, New York, said the double mastectomy that she received as a teenager left her disfigured, according to a story by the New York Times.
Varian accused her psychologist and the plastic surgeon who performed the mastectomy of failing to obtain adequate consent about the risks before she agreed to undergo the surgery in 2019.
Varian also said the providers deviated from standard practices governing gender-related medical care, according to the New York Times.
Varian was 16 years old at the time of the surgery. She was assigned female at birth but later identified as a man. Varian now identifies as a woman, an example of a process known as detransitioning, according to the New York Times.
The verdict was announced Friday after a three-week trial in White Plains, New York. It was first reported by the Free Press.
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