Judges apply the law rather than sit above it, says the reply brief of Prisha Mosley filed Tuesday with the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
Mosley’s hope is to reinstate medical malpractice claims, potentially delivering a landmark win nationwide for detransitioner lawsuits.
“When the General Assembly enacts a statute and commands that it govern pending cases, a trial court has no license to disregard it,” the brief says. “That principle resolves the first issue, and it is the one the defendants try hardest to talk around.”
Lawyers say state legislation from 2025 restored Mosley’s malpractice and negligent-infliction claims, nor can the defendants “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,” the 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 team says the judgment should be reversed.
Born a female, surgeries were performed to change Mosley to a boy. State law changed in 2025, with North Carolina becoming the 18th state to define men and women in a law that 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. It states that at age 17, testosterone injections were started, and a double mastectomy was performed. Among the eight defendants are a plastic surgeon, two licensed counselors, and a physician.
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.
Prevent Sexual Exploitation/Women and Minors, known also as House Bill 805, passed the House of Representatives 65-43 and the Senate 27-4 when 15 Democrats opted not to vote or be excused. On July 3, first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein vetoed the legislation.
On July 29, Mecklenburg County Democratic Rep. Nasif Majeed joined 71 Republicans for a 72-48 override in the House. The Senate followed 30-19 with only Republicans favoring.
House Bill 805 not only defines male and female in state law for clarity in legal and policy matters, but it also prohibits gender transitions paid for by taxpayers involving prisoners and minors. Biological sex, the law effective immediately says, is based on reproductive potential or capacity.
In part, the law codifies an executive order from second-term Republican President Donald Trump defining boys and girls.
A positive sign for Mosley was the $2 million Fox Varian verdict. 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.
