A Nebraska woman who underwent sex-change procedures as a teen but then detransitioned is suing the doctors and hospitals that facilitated the removal of her healthy breasts as part of her gender transition.
The lawsuit by Luka Hein was filed on Wednesday in Douglas County District Court. The accused parties include Nebraska Medicine, the Nebraska Medical Center, and UNMC Physicians.
Hein is being represented by the Center for American Liberty.
“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,” the lawsuit states.
Nebraska Medicine declined to comment on the lawsuit when reached by National Review.
Throughout adolescence, Hein struggled with her mental health and traumatic experiences, including being allegedly groomed and threatened by an adult man. She had serious mental-health struggles at age 13. By 15 she was diagnosed with “gender identity disorder” and put on a fast track to have her breasts removed, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims that despite Hein’s history, doctors rushed her into gender transition without considering her psychological comorbidities. It says the defendants used deceptive euphemisms and unscientific terminology to sell gender-transition procedures to Hein.
For instance, their use of the phrase “masculinizing hormone therapy” was misleading as the process does not heal the patient but does “inflict harm that causes malfunctioning and malformation of the teenage body and brain,” according to the lawsuit. Testosterone injections, which Hein received as part of her attempted sex change, can cause many negative side effects including high blood pressure and permanent bodily changes such as the development of an Adam’s apple, deepening of the voice, abnormal hair growth, and male pattern balding of the scalp.
The lawsuit says defendants were also negligent in other ways, such as in their shifting from a standard medical diagnosis to the “affirming care” model, which embraces a person’s gender delusion as fact and discourages questioning.
One doctor, Nahia J. Amoura, was prepared to go even further to enable Hein’s physical mutilation, according to the lawsuit.
“About a year after starting Luka on testosterone, Dr. Amoura recommended to Luka that she surgically remove her uterus in a partial hysterectomy as the next step in her ‘transition,’” the lawsuit states. The hysterectomy would have permanently sterilized Hein and created hormonal imbalances that would have required long-term medical follow-ups.
In the battle for accountability against the professionals they accuse of medical malpractice, Hein joins female detransitioner Prisha Mosley, who claims her former doctors led her down a similar gender-transition rabbit hole.