Woman Sues Doctors for Removing Her ‘Healthy Breasts’ at Age 18

Prisha Mosley. Courtesy of Independent Women’s Forum

An American woman has sued doctors who prescribed her testosterone when she was a minor and removed her breasts when she was 18.

Prisha Mosley, 25, says the doctors committed fraud and medical malpractice with the actions, which were predicated on claims that they would help solve mental health problems such as depression.

“Defendants lied to and withheld critical information from and about a young and vulnerable teenage girl, who was a victim of sexual assault and suffering from severe psychological impairment and disability,” the suit, filed in North Carolina, states.

“Instead of providing competent treatment for her depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, self-harm, and emergent borderline personality disorder, they convinced her that changing her body to appear as the opposite sex would solve her substantial mental disabilities that had plagued her for years.”

Doctors kept Ms. Mosley on testosterone even though her mental problems were not subsiding. Counselors later recommended she undergo breast removal as part of what they said was her “path to self-realization.”

Ms. Mosley’s breasts were removed by Dr. Eric Emerson, a plastic surgeon, in 2016.

Documents she signed said that the procedure was “breast reduction” aimed at women with large breasts but the entire breasts were removed. There was no language stating that the procedure was irreversible.

Ms. Mosley now cannot nurse a child, and may not be able to get pregnant, due to side effects from the testosterone and breast removal.

Defendants concealed information about possible side effects for the purpose of making money and bolstering their credentials, Ms. Mosley alleges. Dr. Emerson, for instance, said his first “gender affirming” surgery was on Ms. Mosley. Soon after the surgery, he helped start the Charlotte Transgender Healthcare Group.

The suit is seeking compensatory and punitive damages as determined in a trial. Ms. Mosley has separately launched a fundraiser for medical expenses.

Cone Health, one of the defendants, declined to comment. The rest of the defendants did not respond to inquiries.

Struggles

Prisha Mosley, born Abigail Mosley, struggled with mental problems as a child. Things became worse after she was sexually assaulted by an older male when she was 14, resulting in a miscarried pregnancy. She was hospitalized for depression the following year and prescribed medications, including an anti-psychotic drug. She attempted suicide.

The path to the breast removal surgery accelerated when Ms. Mosley was referred by her primary care doctor to a dietician, who subsequently referred her to Dr. Martha Fairbanks Perry.

A resident under the supervision of Dr. Perry wrote in notes on Ms. Mosley’s first visit that Ms. Mosley wanted breast removal and to become a male in part because she believed her anorexia was driven by a desire to have smaller breasts. The resident concluded on the basis of the single visit that Ms. Mosley had a “gender identity crisis” and that the crisis was “most likely the underlying issue that drives her eating disorder and emotional distress.”

Dr. Perry validated the diagnosis and emphasized the importance of addressing symptoms, including gender dysphoria, in an encounter soon after.

Ms. Mosley was improving by following a meal plan but Dr. Perry still pushed her to transition, according to the suit. At one point, after Ms. Mosley asked the doctor if she should leave home and live with an adult friend, Dr. Perry said “You can leave” and that “You will get through this and be able to live as the person you should be. You have support from me.”

Ms. Mosley’s parents resisted sending their daughter to a therapist specializing in transgender care but the mother gave in after an “extensive” discussion, according to the resident.

Testosterone Prescription

Ms. Mosley began to see counselors, including Shana Gordon and Brie Klein-Fowler. Ms. Gordon determined after a brief session that Ms. Mosley was actually a boy and that changing her body would solve many of her problems, according to the suit. Ms. Gordon provided a recommendation letter for testosterone injections that cited World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) guidelines, despite many of the guidelines not being met.

One guideline, for instance, says professionals should offer a thorough assessment and education of therapeutic options. That did not happen, Ms. Mosley says. Ms. Gordon is also alleged to have falsely written that Ms. Mosley did not have any problems “related to mood” and that there was no evidence of “psychopathology or impaired judgement.”

Dr. Perry prescribed testosterone based on Ms. Gordon’s referral, despite being aware of Ms. Mosley’s mental problems. “Dr. Perry told Prisha at the time of the prescription that injecting testosterone into her body was ‘medically necessary and appropriate and would cure her psychological problems, reinforcing Defendant Gordon’s misrepresentations and further misleading Prisha,” the suit says.

Dr. Perry allegedly did not inform Ms. Mosley, still 17 at the time, of possible side effects, including vaginal atrophy and loss of bone density.

After Ms. Mosley expressed concern about strange discharge from her nipple, Dr. Perry was quoted as saying: “We are re-inducing puberty and thus you will have the same symptoms a male can have starting puberty. Some breast swelling and tenderness can occur. That is normal.” Ms. Mosley was also told that she would grow a penis, according to the suit.

In follow-up visits, Ms. Mosley’s mental problems did not subside, but Dr. Perry did not discuss the possibility of taking her off of testosterone.

Breast Removal

Ms. Mosley was preparing to have her breasts removed. To that end, she asked Ms. Klein-Fowler for a recommendation letter.

“All you would need to do is say that you are my therapist, know me, and confirm that I am trans, have severe gender dysphoria, and need top surgery,” Ms. Mosley wrote.

“Let’s talk more about it and I'll write one after we speak. I hope I will be able to help you get what you need!” Ms. Klein-Fowler replied.

The following day, after seeing Ms. Mosley, Ms. Klein-Fowler sent a draft letter even though she acknowledged she could not access the WPATH guidelines. And like Ms. Gordon, Ms. Klein-Fowler lacked qualifications to issue such a recommendation, the suit says.

Ms. Klein-Fowler wrote that Ms. Mosley had “researched” her options “extensively” and that Ms. Mosley was “making this decision from a well-informed place” and that she was “hopeful that [Prisha] will be able to continue forward on [her] path to self realization with the help of this procedure.” There was no mention of Ms. Mosley’s mental problems.

Ms. Mosley then met with Dr. Emersen, who claimed breast removal would help the patient. He “concealed” problems that removal would incur, such as the loss of the ability to nurse a child, Ms. Mosley says.

Dr. Emersen carried out the surgery despite documents Ms. Mosley signed making no mention of removal, according to the suit. The documents said the procedure was a breast reduction.

Dr. Emersen allegedly told Ms. Mosley he wanted to get into the gender surgery field and that her surgery would be his first.