Medical Negligence in St. Louis: Can I Sue a Plastic Surgeon?

If you undergo plastic surgery for reconstructive surgery or cosmetic reasons, your doctor owes you an obligation to be honest about the results you can expect, to obtain your informed consent and to provide quality medical care.  If your plastic surgeon fails to live up to his legal obligations to you, and the medical care was below that of an ordinarily careful plastic surgeon, you can file a medical malpractice lawsuit.

The fact that plastic surgery is sometimes elective does not disqualify you from the right to receive compensation if a doctor makes a mistake that is a breach of the standard of care. Like any other physician, plastic surgeons are expected to provide professional quality care and can be held financially responsible for any losses or damages that you experience if they fail to do so. An experienced medical malpractice lawyer can help you to file a lawsuit against a plastic surgeon if your surgeon made mistakes that caused you harm.

When Can You Sue a Plastic Surgeon?

You can sue a plastic surgeon if the following criteria are met:

  • You were a patient of the plastic surgeon.
  • The plastic surgeon provided substandard care, below what a reasonable plastic surgeon would have offered in the same situation.
  • You suffered a permanent physical injury as a direct result of the substandard care that the plastic surgeon provided to you. 

It is up to you to prove that the plastic surgeon made some type of unreasonable mistake that no reasonably competent plastic surgeon would have made.  The mistake could be an action (like botching the surgery) or an omission (like failing to get your informed consent prior to the procedure or failure to identify certain complications after the surgery).

Because plastic surgeons are not general practitioners but instead have a specialized practice focus, their actions are compared with a reasonable plastic surgeon when determining if they should be held liable in a lawsuit.

Medical Negligence in St. Louis Legal Help and Guidance

If you believe that a plastic surgeon caused you to suffer harm by providing negligent medical care, you should speak with a medical malpractice lawyer right away for help obtaining evidence and proving your claim.

Plastic surgeons may have a number of defenses to allegations of medical negligence in St. Louis, including arguments that the care they provided was reasonable, that you just ended up with an unavoidable bad result, and/or that your outcome would have been the same regardless of the surgeon’s actions. The plastic surgeon is likely to have qualified experts testifying on his or her behalf, and it is important that you have your own medical experts to prove how the doctor’s mistake affected you.  An experienced St. Louis medical negligence lawyer can assist you in putting together a compelling case to recover compensation from a plastic surgeon for a botched procedure. 

Leave a Reply