Florida Plastic Surgery Errors Attorneys
Plastic surgery might be an elective procedure instead of a life-saving one, but that does not affect a patient’s ability to file a medical malpractice claim against a negligent or surgeon or hospital in Florida. For many years, Freedland Harwin Valori, PL has helped patients recover monetary awards for damages such as additional medical costs, mental anguish, physical pain, and emotional suffering after plastic surgery errors. Talk to our lawyers today about your legal options. We might be able to help you and bring the responsible provider(s) to justice.
When Are Patients Most at Risk of Plastic Surgery Errors?
Errors during cosmetic surgical procedures can include failure to warn of potential risks or outcomes of the surgery, failure to recognize health risks such as pulmonary embolisms, anesthesia errors, medication errors, operating or making an incision on the wrong part of the body, mistakes during the procedure, communication mistakes, or leaving objects inside the patient after surgery. It is a surgeon’s duty to act within accepted industry standards to help ensure that none of these problems arise during an operation.
Patients are most at risk of plastic surgery errors when they entrust the procedure to a less than diligent doctor or facility. Some facilities do not have the specialists or equipment to deal with a critical emergency should it arise. Such serious complications can commonly arise in association with the administration of anesthesia. Other acts of negligence such as inadequate training procedures, lack of communication or surgery center protocols, or surgeon negligence can all greatly increase the risk of problems, mistakes, and preventable complications. Negligent surgeons nicking arteries, damaging nerves, operating on the wrong patient or body part, or botching the cosmetic results the patient was expecting are all common reasons for medical malpractice claims.
The two most common types of plastic surgery in the country are liposuction and breast augmentation. As with any surgical procedure, these can have complications that impact a patient’s health and well-being. Complications from liposuction, for example, can include infection or fluid accumulation. Patients are more at risk of errors during cosmetic surgeries when they undergo multiple procedures at a time, such as liposuction in combination with a tummy tuck procedure.
Liability and Assumption of Risk
Many patients mistakenly assume that they gave up their right to file a lawsuit against a plastic surgeon by agreeing to undergo the surgery. That is not the case. When a patient signs an informed consent release form, they do not accept the unanticipated risks of negligence in the operating room. This means that the patient can still hold the surgeon liable despite agreeing to the elective surgery.
Other parties might also be liable for plastic surgery errors, including the hospital. A mistake on the hospital’s part, such as failing to properly train nurses and staff members, could create liability for a surgical mistake. Also, if a surgical center does not have adequate emergency facilities in case something goes wrong it might face accountability for a patient’s related injuries or death.
A medical device manufacturer could also be a defendant in a plastic surgery error lawsuit if a machine or device malfunctioned during or after surgery and resulted in patient harm. Product liability lawsuits for medical devices require an attorney, as Big Pharma companies have a lot of resources available to them. To discuss whether or not you have grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit in Florida after a cosmetic surgery error, contact us today.
