Personal Injury Attorney For Botched Cosmetic Surgery Claims

If you've been the victim of a botched plastic surgery, a personal injury attorney may be able to help you receive compensation for your pain and suffering. The odds can be stacked against many patients in these cases as individual bodies have great variances and there are numerous risks involved. Fortunately, most patients have two legal avenues that they may pursue. One is to prove medical malpractice through negligence, and the other is to prove that there was a breach of the patient-surgeon contract. Supporting your case will be difficult, but it can be done.

Proving malpractice in an elective surgery situation poses several difficulties for the client and personal injury attorney. In order to establish a cosmetic surgeon has been negligent, one of three main practice components must have been breached. These are: fully revealing all potential risks and complications to the patient before surgery, receiving consent from the patient for all procedures to be performed, and providing patients with standard and proper care as defined by the industry.

The standard for most cosmetic surgeons is to review risks during the initial consultation as well as any subsequent appointments that occur before the scheduled surgery. Additionally, a patient should be given written material detailing the risks involved, which they will likely have to sign a copy of and return. If your surgeon was unclear, did not provide appropriate written material, or never reviewed all potential complications orally, you may have a plausible cause to pursue legal action. If you were given this information and signed any documents, then you have likely provided consent for your surgeon to proceed regardless of any risks.

A much more common basis for medical malpractice against a cosmetic surgeon is when the standard of care if breached. A surgeon may have made a serious medical error, such as leaving an instrument within the body, creating an incision in the wrong area, removing too much skin, or even performing an unauthorized procedure. It has been known for a patient to go in expecting rhinoplasty and wake up with a breast augmentation instead. While most cases are not that cut and dry, plenty of surgeons do make mistakes or use questionable techniques that can result in deformities, pain, and emotional distress. If you aren't sure if you have a case, consult with an experienced personal injury attorney that specializes in botched cosmetic procedures. They will provide you with further guidance.

Speaking directly with the surgeon can solve some problems. For example, if your breast implants are visibly unevenly filled, most surgeons will provide a revision surgery in order to remedy the problem. Revisions are fairly common, and while unpleasant, are often a more satisfactory outcome than pursuing legal action. A patient cannot, however, expect compensation if there is not a clear error in judgment. Rhinoplasty, for example, has highly variable outcomes, many of which cannot be controlled even by the most experienced surgeon. Just because you are displeased with the results, does not necessarily mean there was negligence.