Did you suffer an injury during cosmetic surgery? There is a chance your injury was the result of medical malpractice, which means you may be able to file a lawsuit to pursue compensation for your damages, including medical costs and pain and suffering. A Cincinnati cosmetic surgery lawyer can review your situation to determine if you have grounds for a lawsuit. An attorney can also be a trusted advocate for your best interests throughout the legal process. The licensed malpractice attorneys at O'Connor, Acciani & Levy can review your situation in a free consultation and represent you on a contingency fee basis. This means we will not charge legal fees unless you are compensated at the end of the legal process.
Types Of Cosmetic Surgery Malpractice
Cosmetic surgery malpractice occurs during many different treatments, ranging from injections to more invasive surgical procedures, including:- Liposuction
- Botox injections
- Breast augmentation, lift or reduction
- Eyelid lifts
- Brow lifts
- Cheek enhancement
- Rhinoplasty (surgery altering the shape or size of the nose)
- Tummy tuck
- Hair transplant
- Skin grafts
- Face lifts
- Lip augmentation
- Neck surgery
- Chin surgery
- Corrective surgery for disfigurement
- Scar revisions
- Breast reconstruction
- Burn repair surgery
- Perform surgery on the wrong body part
- Treat you without having the proper medical license, or any medical license
- Use a nurse anesthetist instead of an anesthesiologist
- Fail to take your detailed medical history
- Perform procedures you did not consent to or authorize
- Use unclean surgical tools
- Conduct a complex procedure at a facility not near a hospital, even though the facility is unequipped to deal with complications
- Treat you in a non-sanitary environment
- Damage tissues, ligaments, nerves or muscles
- Fail to properly monitor you while under anesthesia
- Fail to promptly respond to complications that arise
- Use anesthesia or other drugs that cause an allergic reaction
- Treat you without having the proper equipment on hand
- Do an injection at the wrong location
- Fail to supply enough oxygen while you are under anesthesia
- Leave surgical instruments inside you during surgery
Injuries Caused By Cosmetic Surgery Malpractice
When cosmetic surgery goes wrong because of negligence during your treatment, it can cause severe injuries that may require expensive, long-term treatment. Common injuries that result from cosmetic surgery negligence include:- Numbness from nerve damage
- Paralysis
- Physical deformity
- Scarring
- Infections
- Tissue death caused by oxygen deprivation
- Adverse reaction to drugs, including anesthesia
- Allergic reactions to injections, including Botox injections
- Low blood pressure
- Swelling
- Breathing problems
- Pneumonia
- Excessive bleeding
- Skin discoloration
- Caving in at the site of surgery
- Blood clots
Statute Of Limitations For Cosmetic Surgery Malpractice
Cosmetic surgery malpractice claims have a one-year statute of limitations (Ohio Revised Code (ORC) 2305.113(A)). This means you have one year from the date malpractice occurred to file a lawsuit. If you do not file a lawsuit before a year passes, you lose the right to file one. However, there are situations when the victim did not discover malpractice immediately after it happened. When this happens, the statute of limitations will start to run once you know or should know you were a victim of medical malpractice by exercising reasonable care and diligence. Ohio has a statute of repose that says claims cannot be filed more than four years after malpractice, no matter when you discover it. However, there is an exception to this rule that says if you do not discover malpractice within three years of it occurring, you have one year from that date to file a claim (ORC 2301.113(D)(1)). It can be difficult to make sense of these different laws. That is why you should strongly consider working with a Cincinnati cosmetic surgery malpractice attorney on your case. Our lawyers can quickly evaluate your situation to determine when the statute of limitations for your claim ends, so we can help ensure your case is filed on time.Proving You Were A Victim Of Malpractice
Some people think being unhappy with the result of cosmetic surgery gives them grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit. However, you need to establish a few things to have a legitimate medical malpractice case:- Duty of care – This refers to a legal obligation to provide treatment that meets accepted standards for cosmetic surgery. This means the surgeon who treated you was obligated to provide care that is similar to what would have been provided by a similarly-trained medical professional in a similar situation.
- Duty of care was breached – We will need to show specific instances when the person who treated you did not uphold the duty of care.
- Causation – This means there is evidence showing your injuries were the result of medical malpractice. Our Cincinnati cosmetic surgery attorneys will need to show your injuries would not have happened if it was not for malpractice.
- Damages – This means your injuries caused physical, financial or emotional damages, like lost wages, pain and suffering, medical expenses, or lost earning capacity.
