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Chicago Plastic Surgery Malpractice Lawyer
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Americans spent a whopping $16.5 billion on cosmetic or plastic surgery in 2020 alone. Typically, cosmetic surgery procedures create aesthetically pleasing results and minimal complications, especially if you choose a properly trained cosmetic or plastic surgeon. However, sometimes a cosmetic procedure goes terribly wrong due to cosmetic surgery negligence. Our Chicago plastic surgery malpractice lawyers help victims of cosmetic surgery errors due to medical negligence
Below, our team of Chicago cosmetic surgery malpractice lawyers discuss how complications from an elective surgery differ from medically necessary corrective procedures and how to know if a botched cosmetic surgery is worthy of filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. Call our Chicago plastic surgery malpractice lawyers at 312-321-1111 to schedule a free consultation.
What is Plastic Surgery?
Plastic surgery is designed to improve a person’s appearance or fix physical defects from accidents or other surgeries.
Our Chicago dog bite attorneys will pursue damages for dog bite injuries that result in deformities. Similarly our Chicago car accident lawyers and Chicago birth injury attorneys will pursue damages that include plastic surgery for victims left with permanent scarring or deformities caused by negligence.
Most plastic surgery procedures are elective surgeries as far as health insurance is concerned. But if you suffered a major accident or physical injury, such as an auto accident or dog bite, that completely changed your appearance or made living more difficult, these may be considered medically necessary procedures.
Common types of cosmetic surgery include:
Breast augmentation, reduction, lift, or reconstruction
Abdominoplasty (tummy tuck)
Liposuction for body contouring
Face or neck lift
Eyelid surgery (to create “cat eyes” or “fox eyes”)
Brazilian butt lift (BBL)
Rhinoplasty (nose job)
Silicone implants
Botox injections
Filler injections
What is Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice occurs when the negligent actions or inactions of a medical professional cause a patient to suffer significant personal injury or wrongful death. Any kind of medical professional can face a medical negligence charge whether it’s a nurse, a doctor, a phlebotomist, a cosmetic surgeon, etc. Our Chicago medical malpractice lawyers help clients with all types of serious injury claims.
How to Prove Cosmetic Surgery Malpractice in Illinois
In order to have a strong medical malpractice case, you must have a top-notch Chicago medical malpractice attorney who can help you prove the 4 D’s of negligence:
Duty of Care: All medical professionals, including plastic surgeons, owe their patients a specific medical standard of care. The medical standard is a level of care that a reasonable and competent doctor would provide to their patient.
Duty Dereliction: The medical professional violated this duty of care during a medical procedure.
Direct Cause: The patient suffered severe injuries or death as a direct result of the doctor’s violated duty of care.
Damages: The medical malpractice victim suffered many damages as a result of the breached duty of care for which they should receive fair compensation.
Showing that there was a doctor-patient relationship is also crucial in proving a medical malpractice claim. This is often easy to prove through medical records. Chicago medical negligence lawyers at Curcio & Casciato can help you gather sufficient evidence to create a strong medical malpractice case.
When is Failed Plastic Surgery Considered Malpractice?
It’s important to note that simply disliking the aesthetic results of your cosmetic surgery will not lead to a medical malpractice claim. Plastic or cosmetic surgery malpractice occurs when you suffer serious complications from a surgical error.
Common errors that often result in plastic surgery malpractice claims include inadequate patient assessments, improper surgical planning, and insufficient communication between the surgeon and the patient. Cosmetic surgeons may fail to thoroughly evaluate a patient’s medical history and suitability for specific cosmetic surgeries, leading to complications.
Inaccurate planning or lack of attention to detail during plastic or cosmetic surgery can result in unsatisfactory outcomes, scarring, or deformities.
Additionally, failure to obtain informed consent, negligence in anesthesia administration, or post-operative infections can also contribute to plastic surgery malpractice claims.
Common Plastic Surgery Injuries
Common injuries from surgical procedures include:
Post operative infections
Sepsis
Necrosis, which is basically tissue death
Blood clots
Pulmonary embolism, which is when a blood clot travels to the lungs
Excessive bleeding
Permanent nerve damage
Paralysis
Surgical site skin discoloration
Anesthesia-related complications
Significant scarring and disfigurement
Open wounds that won’t heal
Hematoma, which is a collection of blood under the skin (AKA: a bad bruise)
Seroma, which is a collection of fluid under the skin
Internal organ damage
If you have suffered negative effects like these from your cosmetic surgery, you may have grounds to file a plastic surgery malpractice lawsuit.
Plastic Surgery Malpractice Statistics
Sadly, medical malpractice is incredibly common in the United States. Americans go under the knives of unskilled surgeons in order to save money on highly desired cosmetic procedures, and they suffer major medical issues as a result.
A 2021 study claims that medical negligence incidents in the U.S. make up approximately 2.4% of total health care spending. That breaks down to about $55 billion. Plastic surgery malpractice makes up a decent chunk (more than 3%) of those claims.
Plastic surgeons have a 15% chance of facing medical malpractice lawsuits every year. Cosmetic surgeons tend to win almost 80% of the cases that do go to trial.
This should emphasize the importance of having an experienced and highly rated Chicago plastic surgery malpractice lawyer on your side if you choose to move forward with a medical malpractice lawsuit.
The legal team at Curcio & Casciato has litigated dozens of medical malpractice lawsuits for many procedures and medical conditions. In fact, we have won nearly $40,000,000 in combined medical malpractice verdicts. When you choose us, you can rest assured that our Chicago cosmetic malpractice lawyers will put you in the best position to receive justice.
Can You Sue a Plastic Surgeon for Botched Surgery?
Yes, you can hold a doctor liable for your botched cosmetic surgery, but only if the negligent party caused you significant harm and acted outside of the medical standard of care.
Plastic surgery malpractice cases do come with a few more legal challenges than other medical malpractice cases. That’s because, in most cases, a cosmetic surgery procedure is purely elective.
Before you move forward with filing a cosmetic surgery malpractice claim, check to see what kind of waiver you signed. Most plastic surgeons require their patients to sign waivers which can protect them from liability if something goes seriously wrong.
This doesn’t mean that personal injury victims can’t sue the surgeon, but it may make your case more complicated.
Be sure to bring this waiver and all of your other medical records to your free consultation with a Chicago plastic surgery malpractice lawyer. Our Chicago personal injury lawyers will analyze these documents alongside qualified medical experts in order to help you build a strong case.
Damages for Cosmetic or Plastic Surgery Malpractice
A Chicago medical malpractice attorney can help you recover financial compensation for the following types of economic damages and non-economic damages:
Current medical costs
Future medical expenses, including expenses associated with revision cosmetic surgery
Past and future physical therapy expenses
Lost wages
Physical pain and suffering
Emotional trauma
Permanent scarring and disfigurement
A seasoned Chicago emotional distress attorney can show you the way to calculate pain and suffering and help you calculate lost wages.
Illinois Statute of Limitations for Medical Malpractice
All medical malpractice victims in Illinois have two years from the date of their injury, or two years from the date they discovered their injury, to file a cosmetic surgery malpractice claim. That’s why it’s so important to act fast and file a claim before the Illinois medical malpractice statute of limitations window ends. If you wait longer than two years to file a claim, your case may be dismissed altogether.
Experienced Chicago Plastic Surgery Attorney
Just because cosmetic surgery is generally elective surgery doesn’t mean you don’t have legal rights. If you suffered life-threatening complications from a botched surgery, you may have grounds to file a plastic surgery malpractice lawsuit. Our legal team has what it takes to successfully litigate cosmetic surgery cases and ensure that victims are justly compensated for their suffering. We are ready to start an attorney-client relationship with you today. Call our Chicago personal injury lawyers at 312-321-1111 to schedule a free consultation.