Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, one of the most well-known transgender clinicians in the United States, has been sued by a former patient for allegations of misdiagnosis and failure to provide informed consent. Olson-Kennedy is the same doctor who has refused to publish a nine-year study of nearly 100 children who received puberty blockers. That study was funded by U.S. taxpayers and cost $9.7 million as reported by Jefferey Jaxen from The HighWire. Olson-Kennedy expressed concerns that the results of the study would be weaponized if released since they do not show an improvement in mental health for children who received puberty blockers.

The lawsuit states that the plaintiff, Clementine, experienced several mental health issues that were likely a result of sexual abuse she experienced around the age of six or seven. The mental health conditions included anxiety, depression, presumed autism, and undiagnosed PTSD. A psychiatrist of Clementine also expressed that she potentially has bipolar disorder.

Clementine also had “unaddressed trauma” from two grandmothers and her dog passing away within a month while she was 10 years old. Both sides of her family have a history of the same mental health issues Clementine was experiencing. At the age of 11, she began feeling distressed about going through female puberty. The lawsuit complaint said this is “not surprising, given the sexual abuse she suffered.”

Also at the age of 11, in July 2016, she came out as gay, according to the complaint document, and began meeting with a school counselor in the fall regarding her mental health issues. Clementine told the school counselor that she thought life would be easier if she were a boy, which the complaint says is also fully understandable given her history of sexual abuse. The counselor called Clementine’s parents to tell them she thinks Clementine is transgender.

The lawsuit states that Clementine’s parents wanted to consult “the experts” after the discussions she had with the school counselor. They went to the Center of Transyouth Health and Development in the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital, the largest transgender youth clinic in the country. The complaint details Olson-Kennedy’s significant experience in the field of transgender medicine. She has treated 1,200 patients over the last 18 years and all of the patients were under 25 years old. Olson-Kennedy has been awarded federal research grants and has been used as an expert in cases across the United States to challenge bans on gender-affirming care for children.

On December 26, Clementine visited Olson-Kennedy for the first time and was immediately separated from her parents for an assessment. The lawsuit states that Clementine described her “surface-level understanding of gender” by saying things like “I mostly have boy friends” and “I like boy things.” Based on these statements, the lawsuit alleges Olson-Kennedy diagnosed Clementine with gender dysphoria, told her she was trans, and said it was “all very normal.”

The lawsuit alleges that Olson-Kennedy did not complete an assessment of Clementine’s mental health history nor did she complete any sort of psychiatric evaluation before coming to the conclusion that Clementine had gender dysphoria. The lawsuit states, “Instead, she simply took a handful of platitudinal statements from a scared, confused and traumatized barely-12-year-old girl to give a life-altering diagnosis.”

Olson-Kennedy prescribed a puberty blocker implant for Clementine to “pause puberty,” even though Clementine had only been experiencing feelings of gender dysphoria for “a couple of months prior” to the appointment with Dr. Olson-Kennedy. Less than three months later, Clementine had a Supprelin LA (histrelin acetate) blocker surgically implanted.

Dr. Olson-Kennedy allegedly failed to seek alternate options or to inform Clementine and her parents about the side effects and potential harms of the medication. The lawsuit alleges Dr. Olson-Kennedy “pushed Clementine and her parents down this transition path by engaging in intentional, malicious, and false representations and oppressive concealment of important information. The plaintiff’s lawyer suggests Dr. Olson-Kennedy had a duty to inform her patient that there is a lack of “adequate clinical research supporting this treatment” for 12-year-old girls with gender dysphoria. Dr. Olson-Kennedy did not mention “higher quality clinical research” that shows 80-90% desistance rates.

Furthermore, the lawsuit states that Dr. Olson-Kennedy outright lied by claiming puberty blockers are completely reversible and that she failed to follow the FDA recommendations that say a puberty blocker implant should be replaced every 12 months. Clementine had the same implant for over four years. The lawsuit claims Dr. Olson-Kennedy failed to give important information that Clementine and her parents would need to provide informed consent. This includes the almost “certainty” that she “will be rendered infertile.”

During Clementine’s third visit with Dr. Olson-Kennedy, she was prescribed testosterone to stay “on track” with boys in her class who were beginning to go through puberty. This was in September 2017, less than nine months after Clementine’s initial visit. The plaintiff and lawyers allege that the testosterone consent form was “highly deficient” and did not properly disclose several known risks of the treatment.

While Clementine was uncertain about whether she wanted to take testosterone, Dr. Olson-Kennedy said starting cross-sex hormones early on would ensure that Clementine could “pass” as a “cis male” when she is older. Clementine’s parents were strongly opposed to the testosterone treatment, but Dr. Olson-Kennedy separated the parents from Clementine to convince them to move forward with the treatment. Dr. Olson-Kennedy allegedly told Clementine’s parents that their daughter was suicidal, despite the fact that Clementine was not suicidal and had not expressed any similar thoughts to Dr. Olson-Kennedy.

The lawsuit complaint alleges that Dr. Olson-Kennedy said Clementine would commit suicide if she is not prescribed testosterone and asked the parents if they would rather have a living son or a dead daughter. The parents, deeply concerned with the bluntness of Dr. Olson-Kennedy’s question, agreed to the testosterone treatment. Again, the doctor convinced Clementine and her parents that this is a necessary step and must be done at a young age. She was put on testosterone at the age of 13.

At the age of 14, Clementine had her breasts removed with a double mastectomy procedure. Again, the lawsuit alleges that the patient and her family were pressured into the procedure and were not informed about long-term effects. Clementine’s surgeon did not question her to find if there were other underlying issues that could be attributed to other mental health diagnoses rather than gender dysphoria. Instead, Clementine’s purported gender dysphoria was affirmed, and Clementine had the surgery completed at the age of 14. Clementine and her parents signed a “general consent form” for “procedures that may be performed” rather than a consent form specific to a double mastectomy to treat gender dysphoria.

Last year, The HighWire reported on a lawsuit involving a detransitioner influencer known as “shape-shifter”. In that lawsuit, the patient had clear signs of internalized homophobia which Fenway Health did not consider when diagnosing the patient with gender dysphoria. The report also details the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) protections that some health institutes have from lawsuits. The defendants have claimed FTCA immunity and have asked for a dismissal of the suit. They claim that any lawsuits would have to be against the United States government rather than Fenway Health. The government has also attempted to intervene in this lawsuit.

While Fenway Health has FTCA protections, it is unknown if the judge will dismiss the “shape-shifter” lawsuit. The Los Angeles Children’s Hospital does not have FTCA protection, so Dr. Olson-Kennedy is unable to use the same argument in a motion to dismiss the case.

The HighWire reported about the puberty blocker ban in the U.K. in the aftermath of the Cass Report, which found there is little to no clinical study data to support gender-affirming care treatment for minors. That report also discusses the recent arguments made in front of the United States Supreme Court regarding a current ban on gender-affirming care for minors in Tennessee.