Can I sue my plastic surgeon for a bad surgery? 26 Answers as of February 17, 2012

You need to seek the opinion of another doctor, preferably a plastic surgeon, as to whether your surgeon's work was so substandard as to constitute breach of the duty of care owed to you by your surgeon. Remember that a bad outcome is NOT necessarily prove that the work was shoddy. There may organic reasons why the results were less than optimal.

Personal injury attorneys who handle medical malpractice claims generally offer free consultations. You should speak with one personally. He or she would be able to better judge the probability of a suit by seeing you in person. The fact that you do not like the results is an insufficient basis for a suit, just by itself.

Yes, potentially. You'll want to talk to a lawyer who handles medical malpractice cases.

Yes you can sue the doctor but you will need to show that the doctor breached the standard of care which means he did something different that would be expected of similar doctors. The fact that you do not like the results of the surgery is not sufficient to prove your case. You will need to find another surgeon to act as an expert and clearly identify thing the doctor did that differ from the standard of care or what other doctors would have done.

Depending on how dramatic the results are, you may have a claim for malpractice. Please consult a personal injury attorney immediately to assess your case. The law imposes strict time deadlines on filing claims.

This would be a tough case. Most plastic surgeries come with the caveat that there are no guarantees on the outcome and I am sure you signed a consent form saying so. But some are so botched that those guarantees wont prevent a recovery in your favor. You need to speak to a medical malpractice attorney and he/she will have to find an expert that will attest that your surgeon acted below the standard of care. An expert is required and they are very expensive especially in the cosmetic surgery arena. You can expect $1,000/hour to testify, sometimes higher or 1/2 day minimums. But get a free consultation from a lawyer to ascertain your rights.

You may have a claim against your plastic surgeon if it can be demonstrated to a preponderance of the evidence your surgeon breached the standard of medical care in the performance of your operation. It is important to understand that a bad result from a medical procedure is not in and of itself malpractice. You should consult with a medical malpractice attorney to determine whether you have a viable claim.

To successfully sue for malpractice, you need three things: 1. Evidence that the doctor/nurse deviated from acceptable standards of due care, either by act or omission. This is also referred to as negligence. A bad outcome, in of itself, is not evidence of negligence. You need a doctor to testify that the doctor/nurse was negligent. 2. Evidence that the negligence cause some harm. 3. Significant damages. If the negligence caused minor damages, it would not be economically feasible to bring a ,malpractice case, because the cost in expert witness fees would exceed your damages. I know some malpractice attorneys who require at least $500,000 in medical bills or lost wages caused by the negligence before they will consider the case. You should consult attorneys with experience in Medical Malpractice to determine whether you have a case. In turn, the attorney will need to consult a doctor to determine whether malpractice occurred.

You should confer with an experienced medical malpractice attorney. To bring a malpractice lawsuit, you will need another plastic surgeon to testify that your doctor deviated from the applicable professional standard of care. In other words, it is not enough that the results were not satisfactory. You must prove that your doctor wrongfully deviated from the standard of care for similar doctors in your area. So the focus cannot be on poor results, but rather on what the doctor did wrong that proximately caused the poor results. In addition to conferring with a medical malpractice lawyer, you should confer with board certified plastic surgeons on whether or not your doctor violated the standard of care.

Bad results are alone not enough to have a cause of action against your plastic surgeon. You and your lawyer must prove in court that the doctor did not conform to the accepted standard of care in the plastic surgery profession.

I'm so sorry about your bad outcome. If your injury was caused the surgeon's violation of the standard of care for plastic surgeons, then you may have a claim. If the surgeon did not tell you of the risks of the surgery, you may have a claim. But you need to consult with a lawyer. Not all bad outcomes will give rise to a successful law suit.

There is malpractice and there are bad results. You must find a plastic surgeon who agrees there is malpractice and is willing to so testify for you on the subject. Your opinion does not count for much. It is all about what a professional of the same caliber thinks

Only if you have a written opinion from a plastic surgeon that your surgeon failed to meet the standard of care for plastic surgeons in Virginia and that opinion specifies what constituted the failure.

You can if it was below the standard of care.

Yes. You should see an attorney who specializes in medical malpractice. Time is of the essence as you have a short time to file suit after service are ended.

Unfortunately, there are no guarantees with surgery. You run the risk of a bad result. However, doctors must follow a certain standard of care and their actions cannot be substandard. In order to flesh this out, you should contact an experienced personal injury attorney in your area to discuss the details. A determination of whether there was negligence on the part of the doctor must be made.