Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Attorney in Orlando

When most people think of medical malpractice, they envision getting the wrong medicine prescription or horror stories of surgeons forgetting something inside of a patient’s body.

Those types of things certainly happen, and there are very serious legal consequences for negligence.

But what about plastic surgery? What if the medical procedure you’re getting is elective? Medical malpractice and negligence can occur all the same.

When people get plastic surgery or cosmetic surgery, long before they go under the knife, they meet with doctors to discuss the procedure. If you’ve seen one of the many reality TV shows on cosmetic surgery, you’ve seen doctors proclaiming how wonderful the patient will look and how it’s all going to go amazingly well.

Unfortunately, that’s not everyone’s reality. Sometimes things go wrong. When that happens, you need a lawyer who can help make things right.

A plastic and cosmetic surgery attorney in Orlando is often the key to finding justice after a botched surgery. If you or someone you love has had a bad cosmetic surgery experience, talk to an attorney who specializes in medical malpractice to see whether you’ve got a case.

Cosmetic Surgery Has Exploded in Popularity

How do you know whether you have a case against a plastic surgeon or a cosmetic surgery practice?

First, let’s establish what generally constitutes cosmetic surgery malpractice.

People get cosmetic surgery for several reasons. The industry has come a long way. It used to be that getting plastic surgery was something people wanted to keep hush-hush.

Now, there is much less of a stigma around it. Cosmetic surgery has become a huge industry.  People get cosmetic surgery for:

• Breast augmentation
• Breast reduction
• Rhinoplasty (nose job)
• Liposuction (removal of body fat)
• Facelifts
• Tummy tuck
• Hair implants
• Body implants
• facial implants (nose, cheekbone, jaw)

These are just some examples of cosmetic surgeries. Plastic surgery is also used to help restore patients who suffer significant injuries like serious burns or other disfiguring injuries.

Medical providers are constantly coming up with new surgeries to satisfy clients who are living longer and want to look good while they’re doing it.

What Is Cosmetic Surgery Malpractice?

While the vast majority of surgeries go off without a hitch, sometimes mistakes occur and patients are stuck with life-altering results.

Not only can a bad cosmetic surgery leave you with some type of unpleasant physical condition, but it can also leave you disabled.

For example, a rhinoplasty (nose job) gone wrong will possibly make a you feel extremely self-conscious because their nose looks strange, but it can also affect the way you breathe to the point it puts your health at risk.

Some cosmetic surgery patients deal with serious scarring or disfigurement that takes years and a lot of money to fix.  Some results cannot be repaired.

Whenever a person opts for surgery, the medical providers must operate according to a recognized standard of care. Malpractice occurs when the results or procedure do not live up to that standard of care.  A poor visual outcome alone is generally not a breach of that standard of care, as everyone heals differently.  But if the bad outcome is due to a mistake in surgical technique, treatment, or even due to the patients not having been an appropriate surgical candidate in the first place, then there may be malpractice.

Finding a Cosmetic Surgery Attorney

Waking up from surgery to disappointment with the way you look or feel is extremely disheartening.

The initial shock is bad enough, but people start planning how to fix things pretty quickly.

Before you start planning a visit to another surgeon’s office to fix whatever’s wrong, you should first discuss what’s happened with a cosmetic surgery attorney in Orlando. That means you want an experienced medical malpractice trial lawyer who has handled malpractice cases and knows the field.  This is not something for most personal injury attorneys.

They’ll walk you through the steps you need to take to protect yourself or your loved one from the effects of medical malpractice.

The right attorney can help you:

• Document evidence
• Arrange subsequent medical checks
• Deal with insurance companies
• Draft legal correspondence
• Determine whether the case meets the requirements of Florida’s Medical Malpractice Act (Florida Statutes 766)
• Work with qualified experts
• Develop the case for litigation

Above all, a good legal team will help you set expectations of what’s to come.

People want to know who they can hold accountable when surgery goes terribly wrong.

Identifying Medical Malpractice

As we said previously, whoever handled your plastic surgery had to meet a standard of care in your procedure and after-procedure care. When this doesn’t happen, they can be held liable for anything that goes poorly.

Common malpractice issues include:

• Performing a procedure on a patient who is not an appropriate candidate for the surgery
• Conducting the procedure without the right safety protocols in place
• Performing surgery or a procedure in a private office that should have been done in a hospital
• A procedure performed by someone unqualified
• Failure to take a complete medical history
• Performing the wrong operation or operating on the wrong body part
• Cutting corners to save money
• Disregarding informed consent
• Failing to provide appropriate post-operative observation, care and treatment

These are just some examples of medical malpractice related to cosmetic surgery. The truth is, there is a long list of things that can go wrong in surgery. That’s why it’s so important to have trained, vetted, and qualified medical practitioners doing these types of procedures.

When you talk to a medical malpractice lawyer in Orlando, they’ll walk you through the details of what happened and discuss the next steps about establishing and pursuing a malpractice case.

Cosmetic Surgery Mishaps Happen More than You Think

People are often surprised when they find out how common mistakes during surgery are. Sometimes doctors and other medical providers are careless, and other times they mistreat patients on purpose!

Some “surgeons” are not even surgeons, and other people misrepresent what they’re qualified to do. As a result, surgeries are botched and people have to live with the results.

Doctors under stress cut corners when they’re under stress, and the allure of money can lead people to do dishonest and even malevolent things.

It’s easy, when you are dealing with the aftereffects of a botched surgery, to feel alone. Many people struggle with shame because they don’t want to admit that they had something done or went with a less-than-reputable surgeon.

Talking to an attorney can clear that up quickly once they explain how frequently they deal with these types of cases.

The Impacts of Cosmetic Surgery Malpractice

U.S. laws regarding medical practice and standard of care are very important.  When things go badly, the effects can be devastating.

Botched surgeries can make you look worse than before, but they can also have serious adverse health effects including:

• Death
• Paralysis
• Infection
• Misshapen skin or facial features
• Excessive bleeding
• Drooping skin
• Scarring

Death, of course, is the worst-case scenario, but any of these issues can be extremely troubling. Imagine dealing with significant scarring that limits your ability to move.

It can damage the way you feel about your physical appearance and, even worse, affect the way you live. The psychological effects of scarring and disfigurement on someone can be as devastating as the physical injuries, sometimes worse.

Every day, people hurt by cosmetic surgery gone wrong aren’t able to work the way they once did, and the loss of income can affect them and their entire family.

What’s more, the path to rehabilitation can be extremely painful and take years, if possible at all. Often, it requires several more surgeries to make things right.

What you need is a lawyer who can fight for your interests and take the burden of medical costs and lost income off your plate.

Seeking Damages with the Help of a Cosmetic Surgery Attorney

In the aftermath of a botched surgery, it can be difficult to focus on economic damages and all of the paperwork involved in a medical malpractice case.

That’s why finding an experienced lawyer is so critical. The right legal team will handle all of the minute details of your case while you focus on your health.

A good lawyer will get started immediately on recovering medical expenses related to the botched procedure and work toward securing payment for any treatment required in the future.

• Economic Damages – They’ll also assign liability for lost income as a result of any injuries sustained in the surgery. Calculating lost wages requires a seasoned attorney who knows what will hold up in legal negotiations or court.
• Non-Economic Damages – The people responsible for the malpractice will also be held liable for any non-economic damages related to your case. This includes pain and suffering or wrongful death damages.
• Punitive Damages – Lastly, a cosmetic surgery attorney may pursue punitive damages. Punitive damages are designed to stop something like this from happening to anyone else ever again. They target the medical team responsible for your procedure or wherever the negligence occurred. Punitive damages in Florida are generally only available when the conduct of the health care provider is so extreme as to constitute gross negligence or willful and wanton behavior reckless disregard for human life.

Negotiating Damages

One of the main benefits of hiring an experienced lawyer is that they can offer valuable advice around settlements and damages payments.

It’s easy to understand why some people may be tempted to take a quick settlement, especially in the face of mounting medical bills and time away from work.

However, many times insurance companies and medical providers offer a fast settlement with a low offer to try and get someone to settle before they find legal representation.

An expert lawyer will know what an appropriate settlement is given the circumstances of your case. They’ll tell you when to take an offer that’s fair or when other parties are playing games and tossing lowball offers your way.

After what you or your loved one has been through, you deserve compensation for what you’ve been through.

If you or someone you know is suffering from any of the above after surgery, talk to a cosmetic surgery attorney in Orlando immediately. They’ll be able to guide you in the right direction about what to do next.