Medical Malpractice: Poor Cosmetic Surgery Results Likely to Increase

NEW YORK, NY, August 02, 2012

Your chances of obtaining substandard cosmetic surgery may well increase now that far more doctors with questionable training and expertise are performing such procedures. When you factor in the overall aging of the American population, lawyers may soon be filing many more: medical malpractice lawsuits concerning these types of mistakes and injuries.

According to one recent New York Times article, doctors practicing in many different specialty areas who are now receiving "declining insurance reimbursements" are cashing in on the chance to increase their earnings by offering costly cosmetic procedures. These physicians know that their patients will probably have to pay for these highly popular "extras" out of their own pockets, without any discounted fees.

A Very Common Result of Negligent Cosmetic Surgery In 2010, a patient thought that her board certified physician who offered to perform a "tummy tuck" and a "face-life" for her was surely qualified to do the work since his medical certificates on the wall indicated that he was "board certified." She failed to notice that the enterprising doctor was board certified in "ear, nose and throat" medicine, not cosmetic surgery. Instead of obtaining a flatter abdomen and a more youthful facial profile, she wound up with a "wavy abdomen" and "thick scars on her temples." This woman was then forced to deplete all of her savings just to have her body returned to a more "normal" or acceptable state. No one wants to come out of cosmetic surgery looking far worse than before the procedures were done. The following list sets forth some helpful hints for selecting a fully qualified cosmetic surgeon.

Ways to Avoid Doctors Practicing Cosmetic Surgery Without Sufficient Training

1. Savvy healthcare consumers should only have cosmetic work done by a physician who is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. On its website, this doctors' group makes it easy for consumers to determine if the doctors they want to handle such cosmetic procedures for them are actually board certified in cosmetic or plastic surgery.

2. Smart patients should also make sure that the doctors they've selected to help them are also (currently) fully licensed to practice in the state where the procedures will be done. This simple research can be done by visiting the Federation of State Medical Boards' website. Check to be sure your doctor's license is both "active" and "unrestricted." 3. Avoid letting any doctor who isn't certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery try to impress you with certificates earned as a result of short-term seminars or conferences. Some of these short-term "training courses" are actually held aboard cruise ships to maximize the doctor's pleasure while picking up limited skills.

4. Only allow an internist, gynecologist or other doctor you've known and respected for a lengthy period of time to perform a simple cosmetic procedure like Botox injections for you. However, keep in mind that you're still doing this at your own risk. (Even the very best doctor certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery can't always fix the worst errors made by enterprising non-
specialists.)

5. Make sure that the doctor offering to perform the cosmetic procedure for you still has full practicing privileges at one or more local hospitals, even if the procedure you're having done is so minor that the doctor has told you that it can just be handled in his or her own office. Without this added credential, there's always the chance that your doctor has very limited surgical skills of any kind. Hospitals should readily supply this information to you. Just tell them you're considering surgery and want to be sure the doctor has privileges at their facility. Like the vast majority of other states, New York does not require advertising doctors to specifically state in their ads which medical board certifications they currently have. They are allowed to simply say they're "board certified." (Only Texas, California, Louisiana and Florida require advertising statements to clearly note which specialty certifications a doctor now holds.)

Conclusion

Failing to complete the simple Internet and telephone research suggested above (which should take less than 10 minutes) could lead to your suffering permanent physical damage and require multiple, corrective surgeries. In addition to doing that research, always talk with a wide circle of friends who have had successful cosmetic surgery performed by specific doctors rather than choosing an unknown physician out of ignorance or impatience.

Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff LLP
122 E 42nd Street, Suite 3800
New York, NY 10168
Phone: 1-866-516-5887
http://www.medicalmalpractice.net/