Detransitioner sues American Academy of Pediatrics

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Complaint (PDF file): ISABELLE M. AYALA vs. AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS; JASON R. RAFFERTY, MD; MICHELLE FORCIER, MD; [et al.]

American Academy of Pediatrics Named In Bombshell Detransitioner Lawsuit
Young girl was "unfortunate victim of a collection of actors who prioritized politics and ideology over children’s safety," lawsuit states
https://www.dailywire.com/news/excl...ics-named-in-bombshell-detransitioner-lawsuit
{Brent Scher | 24 October 2023}

A woman who was pumped with testosterone and underwent hormone therapy when she was a young teenager is suing both her doctors and the American Academy of Pediatrics, which her lawyers say has knowingly lied about the impact of the radical sex-change treatments it recommends, according to a copy of the lawsuit obtained exclusively by The Daily Wire.

Isabelle Ayala, now a twenty-year-old woman, had just turned fourteen when she was committed to the hospital for suicidal thoughts, according to the lawsuit. It was during this hospital stay that she met with Dr. Jason Rafferty, who during his first brief meeting with Ayala determined that she “meets criteria to consider hormonal transition,” with the only stated obstacle being parental consent. The lawsuit states that Rafferty and other doctors sent Ayala down the “path of ‘gender-affirming’ medicalization” rather than addressing the true roots of her mental health problems — six months into her testosterone treatments, Ayala tried to commit suicide.

The treatments, however, continued, until Ayala moved away from Rhode Island and decided to quit them “cold-turkey.” Now comfortable with her gender, she regrets what the doctors did to her, the lawsuit says.

“Isabelle is now twenty years old and longs for what could have been and to have her healthy, female body back,” it says. “The changes the testosterone have had on her body are a constant reminder that she needed an unbiased medical expert willing to evaluate her mental health and provide her the care she needed, rather than a group of ideologues set on promoting their own agenda and furthering a broader conspiracy at her expense.”

The lawsuit not only goes after the doctors who treated Ayala, but also the American Academy of Pediatrics, where Rafferty and his colleagues worked to publish a now-infamous policy statement advocating for aggressive gender treatments for children. Lawyers for Ayala say the policy statement laid the groundwork for an “entirely new model of treatment” based on “outright fraudulent representations” of scientific proof.

“Defendants have doubled- and tripled-down on their commitment to the policy statement and its ‘affirmative model’ of treatment, while continuing to promote and profit off it,” the lawsuit states, alleging that Ayala and other children are “victims of a conspiracy entered into and perpetuated to the present day by certain ideologically captured individuals in positions of power at the American Academy of Pediatrics.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics has been a staunch supporter of radical gender ideology, with Daily Wire commentator Matt Walsh saying it has been “ideologically captured” by leftist activists. Walsh wrote in August 2022 that the policy statement on how to care for “transgender and gender-diverse children and adolescents reads like a trans activism manifesto, not a medical guide.”

https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1562454866622291970
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Rafferty was the lead author for the policy statement, and the lawsuit argues he’s used it to launch his medical career.

“[Rafferty] has gone from a little-known resident during his time drafting the Gender Policy Statement to having a highly successful practice in pediatric gender care and considered a leading authority on the subject, all while operating under the imprimatur of the authority he falsely created,” it says.

Among the other doctors involved in treating Ayala at the Hasbro Children’s Hospital Gender Clinic in Rhode Island was Dr. Michelle Forcier, a proponent of so-called “gender affirming care” for children whose perspective was featured in Walsh’s “What Is A Woman?” documentary. Ayala told Forcier that she was “increasingly depressed and anxious” with the testosterone treatments, but she did nothing to intervene.

The lawsuit argues that Forcier has also boosted her career through advocacy for radical treatments, pointing to her appearing in the “What Is A Woman?” documentary. The lawsuit notes that Forcier “was prominently featured in one of the most viewed documentaries of all time in 2022 as a leading expert in pediatric gender care and puberty blockers.”

In the interview, Forcier denies the existence of reality when it comes to gender. Asked whether it’s possible to know the gender of a chicken laying an egg, Forcier stated that it’s only possible to assign that chicken a gender.

Matt Walsh Revisits His What Is A Woman Interview With Dr. Forcier
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdDB8wU73NA
{Matt Walsh | 03 June 2022}

Matt Walsh revisits the interview he had with Dr. Forcier during the filming of his documentary What Is A Woman?




Both doctors Rafferty and Forcier were named in a Friday lawsuit filed by the same law firm, Campbell Miller Payne PLLC. That suit is on behalf of a woman with multiple personality disorder who says she was pressured by the doctors into undergoing aggressive testosterone treatments and is now dealing with the painful and permanent side effects.

Ayala is “an unfortunate victim of a collection of actors who prioritized politics and ideology over children’s safety, health, and well-being,” the lawsuit filed on her behalf states. She had suffered with her mental health ever since being a victim of sexual abuse, long before she began entertaining the idea of gender transition as a solution to her depression. The lawsuit says that Rafferty, Forcier, and other doctors failed to even consider other options to address her mental health before putting her on an aggressive hormone and testosterone regimen.

Ayala told her doctors that she was concerned about losing the ability to give birth, but they put her on the treatments anyway, without disclosing the potential harm the drugs administered could have on the reproductive system.

The lawsuit says that Ayala is worse off now than before she was treated by the doctors, and asks that they be held “accountable for their wrongful acts.”

“Isabelle has suffered from vaginal atrophy from the extensive use of testosterone; she deals with excess facial and body hair; she struggles with compromised bone structure; she is unsure whether her fertility has been irreversibly compromised; she still has mental health issues and deals with episodes of anxiety and depression, further compounded by a sense of regret; and she has since contracted an autoimmune disease that only the males in her family have a history of,” the lawsuit explains.

The lawsuit comes as the number of detransitioners who regret undergoing sex-change treatments spike in the United States. Nonprofit group Do No Harm published a “Detransitioner Bill Of Rights” earlier this month, laying out a legislative blueprint for empowering victims to go after medical professionals who administered treatments and help with reversing the effects of gender transition surgeries.
 
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Whoa... I believe the feces has come into contact with the rotating ventilation device...
 
https://twitter.com/BillboardChris/status/1716937318098206753
to: https://twitter.com/BillboardChris/status/1716962738478645424
[thread archive: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1716937318098206753.html]
{Billboard Chris @BillboardChris | 24 October 2023}

[omitted multiple images of lawsuit text ; see the Twitter / Thread Reader App links provided above (or the thread OP for links to PDF files) - OB]

Massive news!

The American Academy of Pediatrics and several leading doctors are being sued for civil conspiracy, fraud, and medical malpractice!

Isabelle Ayala was just 14 years old and struggling with trauma, depression, cutting, and suicidal ideation when she was coerced onto testosterone by ideologically captured doctors who push childhood sex changes.

Isabelle has suffered from vaginal atrophy from the extensive use of testosterone; she deals with excess facial and body hair; she struggles with compromised bone structure; she is unsure whether her fertility has been irreversibly compromised; she still has mental health issues and deals with episodes of anxiety and depression, further compounded by a sense of regret; and she has since contracted an autoimmune disease that only the males in her family have a history of.

Under the AAP’s so-called ‘gender-affirmative care’ model, the charlatans named in this lawsuit advocate for the immediate, unquestioned embrace of a child's chosen ‘gender identity.’

They also advocate for immediate ‘social transitioning’ of the child to the newly chosen gender identity, and encourage puberty blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones.

Notably, at least four of the six members of the Committee including Defendants Dr. Rafferty, Dr. Forcier, Dr. Allen, and Dr. Sherer —worked at pediatric gender clinics that prescribe puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to patients as young as 10 and

Instead of supporting the conclusions and recommendations contained in the policy statement with scientific evidence, they fraudulently and misleadingly cited evidence that did not support any of their conclusions and recommendations, and they knowingly misrepresented the known risks and dangers of some of the medical interventions the policy statement promoted.

At some point between January 2016 and October 2018, the Committee chose Defendant Dr. Rafferty — who was then only in his medical residency — to be the lead author for the ‘gender-affirmative care’ policy statement they envisioned.

The Gender Policy Statement was alarming to many in the medical community, as it memorialized and institutionalized the radical personal beliefs and ideologies of its authors and visionaries, as opposed to proposing a treatment model based on cited scientific research and evidence.

Indeed, the Gender Policy Statement has been described as "an extraordinary departure from the international medical consensus" (which was and is watchful waiting).

A particularly egregious misrepresentation, which is repeated multiple times in the Gender Policy Statement without even a citation is the contention that puberty blockers to treat gender diverse children are completely reversible and generally helpful to treat gender diverse youth.

And Defendants have stated and continue to state the same fraudulent claim in their private practices as well as their public appearances and in the media. This is an entirely false and extremely dangerous misrepresentation to make and advocate to the public, particularly since the affected audience are children and adolescents (and their families).

In truth, puberty blockers are known to impact children's bone density and can lead to early onset osteoporosis and decreased bone density. They can also impact a child's mental illness. In fact, on the package insert for Lupron, one of the most commonly prescribed puberty blockers, it lists ‘emotional instability’ as a side effect and warns to "[m]onitor for development or worsening of psychiatric symptoms during treatment."

Lupron has also been associated with and may be the cause of mood disorders, seizures, cognitive impairment, and sterility if the patient proceeds to take cross-sex hormones.

Additionally, a leading expert on the subject noted in relation to a recent experimental trial of puberty blockers, "There was no statistically significant difference in psychosocial functioning between the group given blockers and the group given only psychological support. In addition, there is unpublished evidence that after a year on [puberty blockers] children reported greater self-harm, and the girls also experienced more behavioral and emotional problems and expressed greater dissatisfaction with their body so puberty blockers exacerbated gender dysphoria."

For three consecutive years, concerned AAP members, who became increasingly worried with what they were seeing in their practices with children suffering under the care being promoted by Defendants, brought official resolutions before the AAP challenging the Gender Policy Statement.

Each time the AAP used procedural hurdles and even changed certain procedural rules to table and silence those resolutions.

Furthermore, over the past almost two years, there have been six systematic reviews of the evidence surrounding "gender-affirming" medical treatments for children and adolescents (i.e., puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones) conducted by research teams across the globe, as advocated for by the Gender Policy Statement, and every single one of them has reached the conclusion that "the evidence for mental-health benefits of hormonal interventions for minors to be of low or very low certainty," whereas, "y contrast, the risks are significant and include sterility, lifelong dependence on medication and the anguish of regret."

Every systematic review has also contradicted the claims that non-medical intervention for gender diverse youth leads to increased suicides another claim pushed by the Gender Policy Statement. "There is no reliable evidence to suggest that hormonal transition is an effective suicide-prevention measure."

Isabelle was sexually assaulted at the age of 7, and experienced early onset-puberty at age 8.

Still haunted from the sexual trauma, and experiencing natural female discomfort, insecurities, and anxiety with puberty, she starting cutting herself at 11.

Then came social media interactions which introduced Isabelle to the concept of being "trans," an idea that immediately gained traction in her mind since Isabelle's life experiences to that point taught her that to be a woman is to be vulnerable.

Within months, to distance herself from the trauma she endured as a young girl, Isabelle began to identify as a boy amongst her group of close friends.

During Isabelle's initial visit with Dr. Rafferty, she in her deeply compromised mental state told him that her growing suicidality was related to her level of discomfort with her natal sex and her inability to transition due primarily to her mother's refusal.

She was convinced that getting rid of her secondary sex characteristics, dissociating herself from the vulnerable female she was when she was attacked at seven years old, and becoming a boy was the only way to treat her mental health struggles.

At this first visit with Dr. Rafferty, Isabelle made the following requests of Dr. Rafferty:

▪️ “I would like to start on testosterone but my mother said she would not let me until I am an adult and she no longer has any say."
▪️ “I want everything to transition towards a more masculine expression."
▪️ “I would like to switch bodies with a boy if I could."
▪️ “I would like a penis.”

At that same meeting, however, Isabelle also shared with Dr. Rafferty a major hesitation regarding her desire to medically transition, namely, "that [she] might want to have a biological child."

She further explained, "giving birth really fascinates me and I think it is a beautiful thing," reflecting the fact that even at 14 years old she could sense the unique bond between a mother and a child.

Even so, in a matter of minutes and based substantially, if not exclusively, on the endorsements of Isabelle set forth above, Dr. Rafferty concluded that Isabelle "would benefit [from] and meets criteria to consider hormonal transition," noting only a single "concern," namely "parental (maternal) refusal."

Dr. Rafferty formed these conclusions in spite of the fact that Isabelle was at the moment undergoing inpatient mental health evaluation and treatment, and the fact that Isabelle had expressed desire to give birth to a child someday.

Shortly after starting on testosterone, Isabelle reported "profound depression with intermittent suicidal ideation."

Dr. Jason Rafferty increased her dose!

6 months in, she reported ongoing depression.

She then saw Dr. Michelle Forcier (the “Do chickens cry?” lady from “What is a Woman?”)

Isabelle told Dr. Forcier how her anxiety and depression had been worsening, but Forcier did nothing to slow down Isabelle’s testosterone use.

The next month, Isabelle attempted suicide.

With the intent that Isabelle and her parents would rely on such representations and would "consent" to starting a regiment of cross-sex hormones, each of the Fraud Defendants falsely represented that cross-sex hormone therapy was the only treatment option available to Isabelle to effectively treat her gender dysphoria, as well as her anxiety, depression, PTSD, and suicidality.

They further knowingly fraudulently represented that cross-sex hormone treatment was the settled medical consensus and was based on sufficient and valid scientific evidence for treating patients such as herself.

The Fraud Defendants compounded these fraudulent misrepresentations and coerced Isabelle's mother into giving her "consent" by stating that if Isabelle did not start cross-sex hormone therapy, she would commit suicide.

Separate and distinct from their duties owed to Isabelle under the general standard of care, Malpractice Defendants owed a duty to fully address the known risks associated with the invasive “gender-affirming” treatments they pushed and to discuss all viable alternatives to such procedures.

Malpractice Defendants each breached this duty to provide and obtain informed consent by failing to address the risks of cross-sex hormone treatment (and indeed actually downplaying/minimizing known risks) and by failing to discuss or even present any other alternative treatments.

Because the Malpractice Defendants failed to provide the information necessary for informed consent and failed to discuss the viable, non-invasive alternatives to the “gender- affirming” treatments, Isabelle and her parents were misled into agreeing to take testosterone, which failed to address her underlying issues, and Isabelle now suffers from irreversible changes to her body.

This is just the latest lawsuit for detransitioners, brought by the four dads at Campbell Miller Payne.

Their sole focus is to help put an end to this child abuse.

@detranslaw

@detranslaw I’m heading across the pond to London in a few days for more street conversations, and to inspire some global leaders at the ARC Conference to take action against this child abuse.

If you wish to support my efforts, I greatly appreciate your help.
 
She should sue her parents as well. I guess the reason she isn't going after them is because their pockets aren't as deep. That said, the doctor, corporation, political complex needs to be put out of business. This isn't just criminal, it's deviltry.
 
She should sue her parents as well. I guess the reason she isn't going after them is because their pockets aren't as deep. That said, the doctor, corporation, political complex needs to be put out of business. This isn't just criminal, it's deviltry.

From the OP:

It was during this hospital stay that she met with Dr. Jason Rafferty, who during his first brief meeting with Ayala determined that she “meets criteria to consider hormonal transition,” with the only stated obstacle being parental consent.

Was this done against the wishes of the parents?
 
Good for her, it's about time. I think the biggest hurdle to winning the case will be finding an accredited medical doctor to testify to the malpractice.
 
She should sue her parents as well. I guess the reason she isn't going after them is because their pockets aren't as deep. That said, the doctor, corporation, political complex needs to be put out of business. This isn't just criminal, it's deviltry.

From the OP:

It was during this hospital stay that she met with Dr. Jason Rafferty, who during his first brief meeting with Ayala determined that she “meets criteria to consider hormonal transition,” with the only stated obstacle being parental consent.

Was this done against the wishes of the parents?

From this post (bold / underline emphasis added):

During Isabelle's initial visit with Dr. Rafferty, she in her deeply compromised mental state told him that her growing suicidality was related to her level of discomfort with her natal sex and her inability to transition due primarily to her mother's refusal.

[...]

At this first visit with Dr. Rafferty, Isabelle made the following requests of Dr. Rafferty:

▪️ “I would like to start on testosterone but my mother said she would not let me until I am an adult and she no longer has any say."

[...]

The Fraud Defendants compounded these fraudulent misrepresentations and coerced Isabelle's mother into giving her "consent" by stating that if Isabelle did not start cross-sex hormone therapy, she would commit suicide.

Isabelle's mother seems much more to be a (co-)victim than a victimizer.
 
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Also from the OP (bold emphasis added):
...
Isabelle's mother seems much more to be a (co-)victim than a victimizer.

Make it a double lawsuit. Hope they win big.

Expecting the Big Pharma-Healthcare-Government Complex to not engage in fraud, dishonesty, malpractice and profiteering is like expecting the MIC to not push for war (essentially fraud, dishonesty, malpractice and profiteering).
 
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