Malpractice claims regarding plastic surgeons

On Behalf of | Nov 9, 2016 | Medication Errors

Malpractice can occur in any type of medical field. This includes plastic surgery. So, one of the types of medical malpractice claims a patient could find themselves bringing is a claim against a plastic surgeon.

What type of claim against a plastic surgeon is most common? A recent study looked into this question.

The study was focused on 1,438 malpractice claims made against plastic surgeons. These claims were closed between January 2007 and June 2015.

One of the things the study did was review these claims for what patient allegations they contained. This review found that accusations of a surgery being improperly performed were the most common allegation made by patients. Nearly half (49 percent) of the reviewed claims contained this accusation.

The study also had experts look at the claims and give their opinion on what factors contributed to the injury underlying the claim. The most common factor found by the experts were factors related to technical performance of a surgery. This factor was found to be a contributor in 42 percent of the claims.

This underscores how important it is for patient safety for plastic surgeons to make sure their technical skills are where they need to be and that they act appropriately during the various stages of performing plastic surgeries.

As with other types of doctor negligence, mistakes by a plastic surgeon during a procedure can have considerable impacts on patients. When a hurt plastic surgery patient pursues a medical malpractice claim, the result of this claim can affect what sort of position they are in to cope with these impacts. So, what kind of legal guidance and help they have can matter quite a bit for a patient when bring such a claim.

Source: Claims Journal, “Top 3 Claims Against Plastic Surgeons Include Surgery Performance, Patient and Communication Issues,” Oct. 6, 2016

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