Gender-transition patients urge lawmakers to extend medical-malpractice window

Two young women who once identified as transgender urged North Carolina lawmakers on Tuesday to pass a bill that would give people more time to sue doctors for transgender medical procedures made during their youth — decisions they now say left them permanently harmed and without legal recourse.

Two high-stakes bills making their way through the House Judiciary 2 Committee on Tuesday stirred intense debate over who has authority and accountability over children’s medical care — parents, doctors, or the state.

House Bill 606 would give individuals who underwent gender-related medical treatments as a minor — such as hormone therapy or surgery — the power to sue their health-care providers until age 28, 10 years after entering adulthood. Supporters said it gives young people time to fully understand the lifelong impact of their decisions, while critics argued it opens the door to a wave of lawsuits against doctors providing care.

According to statistics NC Values shared with lawmakers during the committee meeting, as high as 13.1% of individuals who transition will detransition, most often occurring five years after transitioning at the age of 23.

The bill also bars the use of state funds for gender transition procedures for both minors and prisoners, blocking access to puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries under most state-funded programs. 

House Bill 519, titled the “Parents’ Medical Bill of Rights,” would revamp the medical landscape for minors in North Carolina. It reverses longstanding rules that allowed teens to seek care — like treatment for mental health or STDs — without a parent’s involvement. It also gives parents broader access to their child’s medical records and requires consent for any vaccine that’s not fully FDA-approved.

Together, the bills signal a major shift in how North Carolina handles youth healthcare — especially care related to gender identity. Supporters frame the legislation as a stand for parental rights and child protection. Opponents warn it could dismantle access to critical care and politicize private medical decisions.

The two proposals could have far-reaching consequences, stirring mixed reactions from the public.

Public Testimony 

Many speakers filled the room to speak out both in support of and against the two bills. Left-wing groups argued against both bills, while conservative-minded groups advocated for them.

Prisha Mosley, a woman who detransitioned years after experiencing many medical complications, spoke in favor of HB 606 as a way to hold her doctors accountable by extending the statute of limitations.

Thank you to @JonAlmond4NC73 for sponsoring HB606 today and helping detransitioners like me seek justice for the medical malpractice we faced. pic.twitter.com/yIAKONLwNH

— Prisha 🦎 (@detransaqua) April 29, 2025

“At the age of 16, I began a medicalized gender transition in North Carolina. Even though my doctors did this to me roughly 10 years ago, it was only 10 months ago that I faced horrific surgical complications as a result of their actions,” Mosley told legislators. “During my so-called top surgery, my surgeon left pieces of my breast tissue inside of my chest. I gave birth to a baby boy, and days later, this caused my milk to come in. My chest filled up with large rocks and my scars ripped open, but I was unable to release any milk because my nipples were grafted.”

Mosely went on to say that it took many years for her to realize that transition was not going to actually change her sex and that doctors had misled and harmed her. She continues to receive new diagnoses and face complications as a result of hormones and surgery. 

“My life has been permanently altered by medical harm, and it was most likely shortened as a result,” Mosley added. “Despite all of this, I have been unable to hold my doctors fully accountable in court for medical malpractice. The statute of limitations is too short. I need justice, and so do many others in North Carolina.”

Elle Palmer, another detransitioner, testified in support of House Bill 606, sharing her experience of beginning a gender transition as a teenager. At 15, after telling her parents she identified as male, she was taken to Planned Parenthood. Despite disclosing a history of bipolar disorder, sexual abuse, and multiple psychiatric hospitalizations, she was prescribed testosterone and ultimately underwent surgery. 

“My doctor encouraged me to get a non medically necessary hysterectomy. Because I said I was a boy, he was okay with permanently sterilizing me at age 18,” Palmer told lawmakers. “Four years later, I contacted a law firm. The doctors had harmed me at every turn, but the lawyers told me the statute of limitations had already passed and there was nothing they could do.”

She urged legislators to pass the legislation, emphasizing that children cannot grasp the long-term consequences of such medical decisions and need more time to seek justice for irreversible harm.

“I couldn’t see into the future, but I shouldn’t have been expected to. I needed more than three years to understand the lifelong regret that gender transition causes,” Palmer added. “That’s why the extension of the statute of limitations is so critical. Please pass House Bill 606, so people like me who didn’t understand the life sentence they signed up for will be able to get justice.”

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