Can I Claim Medical Malpractice for Plastic Surgery Gone Wrong?
Undergoing plastic surgery involves certain inherent health risks, such as possible infection and nerve damage. However, if your adverse reaction to plastic surgery is the result of medical negligence or surgery error, you may make a claim against the surgeon, the hospital, or other responsible parties.
WHEN AM I ENTITLED TO COMPENSATION?
Some postoperative plastic surgery issues are unavoidable, but others are the result of negligence. When your plastic surgery goes wrong due to preventable human error, you have the right to sue the responsible party for compensation. While a surgery gone awry does not always mean the patient has a case for negligence, many plastic surgery cases do call for legal recourse.
For example, if a non-plastic surgeon performs cosmetic surgery, the surgeon is unequipped to handle complications, the surgery takes place on the wrong part of the body, or a similar situation occurs (leading to an injury), it is a case of negligence. To prove negligence, the plaintiff has to prove that the surgeon (or doctor) had a duty to provide reasonable care, the surgeon breached this duty, and the breach caused an injury.
PROVING MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
Medical malpractices cases are complex and can be difficult to prove. Every medical malpractice case hinges on whether the plaintiff can prove negligence. If you’ve suffered dramatic scarring, disfigurement, infection, paralysis, nerve damage, or other serious adverse effects because of plastic surgery, you have to prove that the surgeon’s negligence caused your injury for the courts to deem it medical malpractice.
It’s not enough to have suffered a negative reaction to plastic surgery. You have to have evidence that the surgeon or medical practitioner breached his or her duties by failing to act or acting negligently. To prove negligence, you need to show that the surgery involved a preventable procedural error or an inexperienced surgeon performed the surgery.
CHALLENGES YOU MAY FACE
Surgical error and other medical malpractice cases are among the most difficult personal injury cases to prove in court. Your case needs expert witnesses to attest to the fact that the surgeon failed in his or her duties, as well as extensive medical records and reports of the surgery. The defendant will try to prove that the cause of your injuries was something unpreventable or not due to negligence.
Since plastic surgery is a form of cosmetic surgery, it’s not deemed necessary for the health or survival of the patient. Therefore, the courts tend to side with the cosmetic surgeon in cases of surgeries gone wrong. If they do award compensation to the patient, the award amounts may be significantly lower than in other surgical malpractice cases.
Since the surgery was elective, the jurors might believe the victim doesn’t need a large amount in compensation. After all, the plaintiff had enough money to undergo surgery, so why should they win a large amount? To avoid the jurors awarding you less money, you need to have a competent and aggressive Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyer defending you in court.
GET STRONG LEGAL REPRESENTATION
Surgical error during plastic surgery should not be taken any less seriously than other surgical errors. Even if you chose an unqualified surgeon, you deserve compensation for that surgeon’s negligence. Don’t be a victim of juror prejudice – contact us at the Hill & Associates law firm of Philadelphia for your best chance of winning proper compensation for your plastic surgery injury.
When you work with Hill & Associates, you sign up with a team of attorneys who have extensive experience defending medical malpractice cases involving wrong site surgeries, anesthesia errors, and unsafe drugs and medical devices, and more. If you’ve been the victim of plastic surgery malpractice, seek legal help from a professional. Call (215) 567-7600 for a free consultation.