An Iowa lawmaker is commenting on a court case that he believes could have implications in the Hawkeye state.

District 24 Senator Jesse Green says a jury in New York awarded an individual $2 million from her medical malpractice lawsuit recently. He states that the lawsuit was because the plaintiff wasn’t property diagnosed mentally before undergoing transitioning surgery when the individual was a minor, and decided she didn’t like it and wanted to detransition. Green points out that there are 28 similar court cases pending across the country, and he could see Iowa getting in the mix.

“In 2022, there was 211 transitioning procedures on minors in the University of Iowa alone. When I say that, that could range anywhere from puberty blockers, hormone therapy, that kind of encompasses a lot of different things than just the surgery itself.”    

Green states that since 2022, the Iowa Legislature had a bill signed into law banning gender-affirming care for minors, which could derive some court cases prior to that.

“But as a result of some of those that were done in 2022 and before, it wouldn’t shock me if there’s going to be a lot of lawsuits that start popping up as a result of this.”  

Green adds that the legislature also passed a bill on tort reform for healthcare providers and hospitals and putting a limit on pain and suffering in lawsuits, but that he thinks some lawmakers could come back and there could be a debate tort reform for psychologists as well.