The Center for American Liberty attorney hopes the cases of Chloe Cole and Luka Hein will build on the landmark $2 million Fox Varian verdict.
by Darele McCormick Sanchez, The EpochTimes.com, February 16, 2026
Two high-profile “detransitioner” cases involving young women whose bodies were irrevocably altered as teens by transgender surgery are expected to go to trial in early 2027.
Chloe Cole, who drew national attention after speaking out against subjecting children to gender-reassignment procedures such as hormones and surgeries, has an April 5, 2027, trial date, according to Mark Trammell, CEO of the Center for American Liberty, which represents several detransitioners.
Cole and others, known as detransitioners, stopped or reversed a medical gender transition they started earlier.
She sued Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and other health care providers in California after receiving life-altering hormones and a double mastectomy when she was 15.“Kaiser has done everything in its power to keep Chloe out of a courtroom and to ensure that members of the press are not in the gallery,” Trammell told The Epoch Times.
For Cole, getting a trial date signifies a victory after years of legal wrangling and delays, she told The Epoch Times via text.
“After years of fighting for the voices of my generation to be heard, I’ve been given a date for trial. Every victim, every family who spoke up, every step in the culture, all led to this moment,” she said.
“I’ve waited for my day in court, not just for my sake, but for that of every child who should’ve been protected from irreversible harm.”
Kaiser Hospitals did not immediately respond to a request for comment concerning the lawsuit moving forward. However, the medical group told local news outlets in 2023 that it followed medical standards of “gender affirming care.”
Trammell also represents Luka Hein, whose case is expected to head to trial in early 2027.
Hein’s Nebraska case names the University of Nebraska Medical Center Physicians, the Nebraska Medical Center, doctors, therapists, and others as defendants.Like others, Hein had both breasts removed in 2018, when she was 16, as the first step in her “gender-affirming care,” according to the lawsuit.
Building Momentum
Both medical malpractice cases could solidify gains made in the landmarkFox Varian vs. Kenneth Einhorn case, which went to trial in New York last month. It marked the first time a detransitioner case received a jury verdict.
The Jan. 30 verdict held a surgeon and psychologist liable for malpractice surrounding the double mastectomy Fox Varian received when she was 16.
The jury found her psychologist, Kenneth Einhorn, and surgeon, Dr. Simon Chin, liable for failing to communicate as required about Varian’s condition. One example was laid out in an October 2019 letter Einhorn wrote to Chin in support of Varian’s surgery, which contained errors and omitted coexisting mental issues, including autism and depression.
The New York jury awarded Varian $2 million—$1.6 million for pain and suffering, and $400,000 for future medical expenses.
The Fox verdict sent shockwaves through the gender medicine industry, while offering hope for other detransitioners.
Trammell said that while medical negligence lawsuits aren’t new, those involving transgender medicine are.
“How do you put a price tag on a young woman having her breasts amputated and potentially never being able to have a child?” he asked.
The hope is that detransitioners will now see they can win a legal victory.
“I look at that as a tremendous, tremendous victory, not just for Fox Varian, but for other detransitioners who are maybe thinking about filing lawsuits,” he said.
Trammell said that the success of medical negligence cases depends on establishing that doctors and hospitals failed to meet the standard of care. That’s why reviews of gender medicine, such as the recent one by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), are important, he said.That federal report rejected medical interventions for children with gender dysphoria, recommending therapy instead.
The HHS report noted that evidence underpinning the alleged benefits of medical interventions in pediatric gender dysphoria was “very uncertain.”
Trammell said the pediatric gender industry appears to be based more on politics than science.
He pointed to European countries changing their policies after studies showed problems with medical interventions for childhood gender dysphoria. The United States has lagged behind Europe in adjusting its approach to pediatric gender medicine, he said.
“It’s taken the U.S., unfortunately, years to even begin to catch up. And even still, there’s a ton of money and political power behind it,” he said.
Tools for Justice
Civil lawsuits can be tools for changing behavior on the market level, and the landmark Big Tobacco lawsuit settlement in 1998 is a case in point, he said.
“I think these cases uniquely present the opportunity to put an end to this barbaric industry because ... it’s driven by money and power,” he said.
When doctors, hospitals, and insurers become financially liable for pediatric gender procedures, it will have a chilling effect, he said.
When doctors, hospitals, and insurers become financially liable for pediatric gender procedures, it will have a chilling effect, he said.
Chloe Cole, an ex-transgender teen, speaks in support of the Protect Children's Innocence Act as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) looks on outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sept. 20, 2022. Terri Wu/The Epoch Times
Trammell said states have already helped protect vulnerable children by passing laws banning transgender-related hormone treatments and surgery for minors.
Trammell said states have already helped protect vulnerable children by passing laws banning transgender-related hormone treatments and surgery for minors.
However, state lawmakers could have a bigger impact by creating a carve-out on the statute of limitations for medical malpractice.
In many states, lawsuits must be filed within two years of the alleged malpractice, but it can take children much longer to realize the harm they suffered.
In Texas, 60 lawmakers signed a letter supporting a detransitioner’s case, heard Feb. 11 by the Texas Supreme Court, that was originally dismissed based on the expiration of the statute of limitations. The state lawmakers vowed to support legislation next year to extend the statute of limitations for detransitioners.
Soren Aldaco filed a lawsuit in 2023 asking for more than $1 million in damage, claiming doctors pressured her into gender-reassignment procedures, gave her “life-altering” hormones at 17, and later “botched” a double mastectomy.Story continues below advertisement
Trammell said that at the very least, the statute of limitations on cases involving minors shouldn’t start until they turn 18.
“They should have five to 10 years at least to be able to make those decisions for things that happen to them as 13-, 14-, 15-year-olds,” he said.
CLICK HERE TO GET MORE NEWS FROM THE EPOCH TIMES.COM
