Cosmetic surgery seems to become more common each year, with millions of men and women in New York and across the country going under the knife seeking improvements in all parts of their bodies. More surgeries also raise the possibility of an increase in medical malpractice lawsuits if doctors become careless in their procedures. One doctor is now facing four women who claim he botched their surgeries, leaving them permanently injured.
The women came to the out-of-state doctor seeking a popular procedure for augmenting their buttocks. The surgery involves removing fat from other areas of the body and injecting it into the buttocks. However, during one woman’s procedure, the doctor allegedly injected the fat into her sciatic nerve and struck her bowel with a surgical instrument. The woman spent four months in the hospital following the surgery. The patient’s mother claimed that the doctor admitted to her that he had messed up.
Three other women tell similar stories involving the same doctor doing the same procedure. One woman’s liver was punctured, which required months of hospitalization. Another woman claims she knew as soon as the surgery ended that something had gone wrong, and she drove herself to the hospital fearing that she was dying. The doctor is confident he will prevail since the women all signed consent forms indicating they understood the risks of the surgery.
Surgical injuries can leave a person permanently disabled or even end a patient’s life. People in New York and elsewhere have the right to expect the highest standard of care from their doctors, whether their procedures are medical or cosmetic. Those who are injured due to the negligence of a surgeon find it helpful to consult a medical malpractice attorney who can review the details of the claim and help the patient determine the best course of action for seeking possible compensation.
Source: nbcmiami.com, “Surgeon Faces Losing Medical License in Malpractice Hearing“, Dan Krauth, Oct. 27, 2016