Prisha Mosley, in pursuit of medical malpractice against a plastic surgeon, two licensed counselors and a physician among eight defendants, is optimistic for Tuesday’s oral arguments at the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
At age 17, her healthcare known colloquially and politically as “gender-affirming” included testosterone injections and a double mastectomy. While a July 2023 litigation failed, state law in 2025 changed the statute of limitations reopening her chance at justice and possibly a landmark decision equal to or greater than the $2 million verdict earlier this year in what is known as the Fox Varian case.
“I feel grateful for the opportunity to be heard by the higher courts and have the possibility of a trial, but it’s also hard to once again face what happened to me with lawyers and courtrooms,” Mosley told The Center Square in a digital interview on Wednesday.
Mosley’s lawyers say state legislation from 2025 restored her malpractice and negligent-infliction claims. They say defendants cannot “salvage the summary judgment order on fraud.”
“Prisha’s experts branded the defendants’ representations – male brain, coming male puberty, medically necessary amputation of healthy breasts – as anything but legitimate medical judgment,” a filed brief says. “Belief, deceptive intent, agreement, and discovery were the jury’s issues to weigh, not the trial court’s issues to decide.
“Finally,” the brief continues, “the claims struck on the pleadings must return. Testing a complaint by what evidence later showed inverts Rule 12(b)(6), and a denied motion to dismiss is not a springboard for appeal after summary judgment. Read as pleaded, every count states a claim.”
Mosley’s legal team says the judgment should be reversed.
Born a female, surgeries were performed to change Mosley to a boy. State law in 2025 made North Carolina the 18th state to define men and women in its General Statutes and also increased the statute of limitations to 10 years for those seeking justice for harm from gender transition.
Her litigation charges healthcare providers with medical malpractice, negligence and fraud.
Mosley, now living in Michigan, filed the lawsuit in Gaston County in July 2023. At the time, the statute of limitations was generally three years and had an absolute cutoff at four.
Given the opportunity, Mosley told The Center Square, “To the defendants I would like to say that though my trust was broken and my body was harmed, my heart was not, and I know that I am just one of many, so I’m using the parts that aren’t destroyed to try and fight for justice and change for all of us.
“You knew better. You were also just some of many, working on the side of a medical scandal and ideology. May justice see things the right way in the end, for so many.”
Defendants are Dr. Eric Emerson; Piedmont Plastic Surgery and Dermatology; Brie Klein-Fowler; Family Solutions; Shana Gordon; Tree of Life Counseling; Dr. Martha Fairbanks Perry; and Moses Cone Memorial Hospital, doing business as Cone Health.
Plaintiff listed in the litigation is Charlie Mosley, also known as Prisha Mosley, also known as Abigail Mosley.
Fox Varian’s verdict was rendered in January. The 22-year-old won a lawsuit against medical providers that performed a double mastectomy when Varian was 16 years old in New York’s Westchester County. A jury said standard of care was violated when the medical providers did not get informed consent and skipped psychological evaluations.
Varian’s mother, in testimony, said she gave consent based on being told her daughter would commit suicide without it.
