Plastic Surgery Malpractice Attorneys: Don't Settle For Negligence

A plastic surgery malpractice claim is a lawsuit against a surgeon, anesthesia provider, or surgical facility whose negligent care during a cosmetic or reconstructive procedure caused injury, disfigurement, or death. The injured patient brings the claim; when a procedure proves fatal, the family can bring it as a wrongful death case.

An elective procedure does not lower the standard of care. The surgeon who performs a tummy tuck owes the same competence as the surgeon who removes an appendix, and a negligent result is compensable either way.

Complications caused by negligence are what separate a lawsuit from an accepted surgical risk.

When mistakes happen under the scalpel you risk serious injury and disfigurement.

If a plastic surgery procedure left you injured or disfigured, call (888) 713-6653 for a free consultation with our malpractice attorneys, available 24/7.

These cases are complicated. Elective patients typically sign consent forms and liability waivers, and the defense leans on them. A waiver covers the disclosed risks of a properly performed procedure. It does not excuse negligence.

Any surgical procedure can be a delicate undertaking, especially when the facial structures are involved. With the fact that anesthesia is often involved, there are always risk of injury when during a procedure is performed. Some of the most common causes of injuries during cosmetic surgery:

• Physician error such as operating on the wrong body part or not sterilizing equipment properly
• Doctor incompetence
• Incisions that reopen after surgery as the body tries to adjust to the changes (Drastic weight loss or weight gain can contribute to re-openings)
• Leaks of synthetic substances from injected compounds
• Complications from original injuries

Plastic surgery medical malpractice is typically proven by showing negligence on the part of the medical practitioner. To prove negligence, the investigation must establish the following:

• There was a duty on the part of the physician to care for the patient
• The physician breached the duty of care
• A direct link between the harm suffered being caused by the breach of duty must exist
• There must be provable damages resulting from the harm that occurred

As medical practitioners, your surgeon has a duty to care for you as a patient in accordance with accepted standards. Proving it was the surgeon's acts which caused an injury to the patient can be difficult.

In some cases, such as when the wrong body part is operated on, establishing negligence is far easier.

Much depends on the specific details of your situation, if you suffered or feel you were mistreated by your surgeon, we recommend you share the details of your case immediately with our malpractice attorneys to review legal options.

The deadline is set by your state's medical malpractice statute of limitations, and states differ sharply: a year in the shortest states, several in others, with the clock often starting when you discovered the harm rather than on the surgery date.

Many states also impose presuit requirements on malpractice claims, including expert reviews and formal notice to the surgeon, that must be completed before a lawsuit can be filed. Those steps take time out of the same window.

Scarring and nerve damage often declare themselves months after a procedure, which makes the start date of the clock a live legal question in these cases. Do not settle that question with a guess. Get a state-specific answer while every option is still open.