On August 28, 2025, a Gaston County judge dismissed the lawsuit of detransitioner Prisha Mosley, a young woman who says she suffered permanent injuries from experimental gender transition interventions she underwent as a teenager.
Mosley was placed on puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones as a minor and later underwent a double mastectomy, procedures she now describes as life-altering and harmful. In July 2023, she filed suit in Gaston County against several doctors and medical clinics, alleging fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud. She later added a claim of medical malpractice, arguing that she was never adequately informed of the risks or long-term consequences.
That malpractice claim was initially dismissed in May 2024. But in July of this year, the North Carolina General Assembly passed HB805, a law extending the statute of limitations so victims of gender-related medical interventions could pursue malpractice claims in court. The measure was seen as a legislative effort to give individuals like Mosley another chance at justice.
When Mosley attempted to revive her malpractice claim under the new law, Judge Robert Ervin denied the motion, saying “in his discretion” he would not apply the statute. Ervin’s decision raised eyebrows not only because of the stakes of Mosley’s case but also because of his family background. He is the grandson of U.S. Senator Sam Ervin, Jr., who chaired the Senate Watergate hearings; the son of Sam J. Ervin III, a justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court; and the brother of Sam J. Ervin IV, who served as an associate justice on the state’s highest court until he lost reelection in 2024. The Ervin family has long been associated with Democratic judicial leadership in the state.
Mosley’s legal team has now appealed the ruling on September 10, 2025, arguing that Judge Ervin wrongly ignored the legislature’s clear intent in passing HB805. Her case now awaits a hearing before the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
