by Mary Margaret Olohan
Detransitioner Luka Hein is suing the medical providers who surgically amputated her breasts at the age of 16 in 2018, “leaving her physically and psychologically scarred.”
“Proceeding straight to breast amputation in a depressed, anxiety-ridden, gender-confused adolescent, who was incapable of understanding the lasting consequences of her decision, constitutes negligence for which Defendants are jointly and severally liable,” Hein’s lawsuit states.
Hein, now 21, is one of a growing number of young women who are coming forward to sue the doctors and therapists who propelled them along the path toward surgical and hormonal transition. A detransitioner is someone who sought to change his or her gender through hormonal or surgical interventions and ultimately regretted the attempt and returned to living as his or her biological sex.
Hein’s lawsuit describes how she struggled through her parents’ divorce in her early teens, how she was groomed online by predatory adults, struggled dramatically with her mental health, and ultimately was put on testosterone for four years, causing disruptions in her endocrine system, heart damage, her voice to deepen, pain throughout her body, and “permanent dysregulation of her reproductive organs.”
Represented by the Pittsburgh-based nonprofit legal group Center for American Liberty, Hein is accusing her doctors of causing her physical pain and mental suffering, both past and future, heavy medical expenses, permanent impairment of her earning capacity, inconvenience and loss of enjoyment of life, and permanent scarring, injury, and disability.
“As a proximate result of the actions of the Defendants, and each of them, Luka’s breasts were surgically amputated, leaving her physically and psychologically scarred,” the lawsuit says. “If she has not also suffered the loss of her fertility, Luka has lost her ability to breastfeed, thereby depriving her of the maternal benefits of nursing.”
The filing continues: “Luka’s future children will be deprived of the natural bonding effects and nutritional benefits of breastfeeding.”
The suit names University of Nebraska Medical Center; Nebraska Medicine; Nahia J. Amoura, M.D.; Perry Johnson, M.D.; Stephan Barrientos, M.D.; and psychotherapist Megan Smith-Sallans. Nebraska Medicine declined to comment, and the rest of the medical professionals did not respond to requests for comment.
In July, 21-year-old Texas detransitioner Soren Aldaco filed a lawsuit alleging that her doctors behaved more like “ideologues” than medical professionals and that they did not properly take her autism, depression, anxiety, and other comorbidities into account when they evaluated her for an attempted gender transition.
“The repercussions of these interventions have led to Soren’s permanent disfigurement and profound psychological scarring,” the suit alleges. “The Defendants’ breaches of their fiduciary duties are only underscored by the fact that each Defendant met Soren and facilitated these ‘therapies’ at a pivotal juncture in Soren’s life—when she was grappling not only with the universal challenges of adolescence and body image, but also with a complex amalgamation of diagnosed mental health comorbidities and other psychological and social disorders.”
Earlier in July, Prisha Mosley filed a lawsuit accusing her doctors and therapists of rushing her down a dangerous and life-altering path. Both Mosley and Aldaco are represented by Campbell Miller Payne PLLC. Detransitioners Chloe Cole and Layla Jane, represented by the Center for American Liberty, have also recently announced high-profile lawsuits against medical practitioners at Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Permanente Medical Group.
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Mary Margaret Olohan is a senior reporter for The Daily Signal. She previously reported for The Daily Caller and The Daily Wire, where she covered national politics as well as social and cultural issues. Email her at [email protected].
Photo “Luka Hein” by onedonebun.
