Plastic Surgery Malpractice

The quest for a vibrant, youthful appearance has made plastic surgery an increasingly popular option in the United States. When all goes well, plastic surgery can correct defects and injuries and improve appearance. But plastic surgery gone wrong can lead to not only scarring, damaged and distorted appearance, but serious infections, blood clots, nerve damage, paralysis, allergic reactions, anesthesia awareness, hematoma, dangerously low blood pressure, necrosis, and even death.

While some complications might be unavoidable, others may be caused by negligence and medical malpractice by medical professionals. Every patient deserves care that meets the accepted standard for that medical profession. When plastic surgeons, other medical professionals, or hospitals fail to follow the accepted standard of care, patients may be left with painful, disfiguring scars or worse. If you or a loved one has suffered harm or someone has died due to plastic surgery medical malpractice, it makes sense to see if there are grounds for a malpractice lawsuit to seek compensation for your losses, including:

• Medical, hospital and rehabilitative expenses and future medical costs
• Lost wages and future earning capacity
• Emotional distress, disfigurement, pain and suffering, and
• Loss of life’s pleasures

The seasoned Pennsylvania plastic surgery malpractice attorney Clifford A. Rieders at Rieders, Travis, Dohrmann, Mowrey, Humphrey & Waters knows the courts and the system and what you need to do to increase your chances of winning a good settlement. We offer a free consultation on personal injury cases to carefully examine the individual facts of your case and determine the best way to handle it.  Put our experience to work for you today by calling or by using our online contact form.

What is Plastic Surgery?

According to the American College of Surgeons, plastic surgery deals with the repair, reconstruction, or replacement of physical defects of form or function involving the skin, musculoskeletal system, cranio and maxillofacial structures, hand, extremities, breast and trunk, and external genitalia.
Plastic surgery uses aesthetic surgical principles to improve undesirable qualities of normal structures and in reconstructive procedures. To accomplish this, surgeons must have great knowledge, skill, judgment, ethics, and technical expertise.

Plastic Surgery Malpractice

Generally speaking, medical malpractice occurs when medical professionals do not conform to the standard of care in their field. While all surgery carries risks and the possibility of complications, malpractice can occur if the surgeon, hospital or operating staff is careless, incompetent, or negligent.

Examples of negligence include:

• Performing plastic surgery on an inappropriate individual, one who does not need it, or one who seeks multiple surgeries
• Improper planning and failure to warn of risks and get informed consent
• Before, during, and after surgery and postoperative care
• Disfigurement and scarring from negligent procedures
• Inability to show facial expressions
• Body asymmetry
• Blood clots and pulmonary embolisms
• Malfunctioning equipment or equipment left in body
• Anesthesia or medication errors
• Inadequate communication
• Wrong-site or wrong-patient operations
• Too much or too little tissue being removed where that could have been avoided
• Injuring nerves or blood vessels
• Operating under the influence of drugs and alcohol

Proving Malpractice

Plastic surgery malpractice, like any medical malpractice, needs to be proven in a court of law. Surgeons have a duty of care to the patient, and it must be proven that failure in this duty through actions or inactions caused injury or death.

To prove malpractice, it must be shown that:

• A doctor-patient relationship existed at the time of the harm,
• The defendant breached the duties of care,
• This breach caused the plaintiff harm, and
• The plaintiff suffered damages and harm as a result

In proving medical malpractice, it must be shown that a reasonably competent physician would have done something differently in the same circumstances. In Pennsylvania, the courts usually require expert testimony.  A lawyer must sign a certificate of merit indicating that he has received a “statement” from a physician in the appropriate specialty.

Our Experience is on Your Side. Contact Us for a Free Consultation on Personal Injury Cases

If you or a loved one has suffered harm or someone has died due to the incompetence or malpractice of a medical professional, you may be entitled to compensation for your losses.

Medical malpractice law is highly regulated by a complex body of rules. For a successful claim, the burden of proof is on the injured patient, so it is essential to have a skilled plastic surgery medical malpractice lawyer on your side. Many cases are settled out of court, so your attorney should be adept at negotiation and dealing with insurance companies as well.

Our experienced and compassionate Pennsylvania plastic surgery medical malpractice attorney Cliff Rieders has spent decades honing his skills and successfully representing Pennsylvania families who have suffered an injury or loss due to medical negligence. He is on committees and organizations that write the law in many fields of practice, and he was involved in the writing of the Mcare Act, which governs medical liability actions in Pennsylvania. He wrote the book on medical malpractice that lawyers use in the state and teaches the subject of medical malpractice at seminars attended by the leading lawyers in the state. Cliff Rieders is recognized an outstanding authority in the medical malpractice field and has even testified before the legislature on medical malpractice laws.

Based in Williamsport, Rieders Travis serves clients throughout the state of Pennsylvania, offering a free consultation on all medical malpractice matters. More than that, we offer you experience, knowledge, compassion, and a long history of results. We are thoroughly prepared and committed to achieving a just outcome and getting you the compensation you deserve. With our competent staff, we offer strength in experience while providing top-notch personal service.

In your free consultation, we will carefully examine the individual facts in your case and determine the best way to handle it. Put our experience to work for you today by calling or by using our online contact form.

Attorney Cliff Rieders

Cliff Rieders is a Nationally Board Certified Trial Lawyer practicing personal injury law. A large part of his practice involves multi-district litigation, including cases related to pharmaceuticals, vitamin supplements and medical devices. He is admitted in several state and federal courts, as well as the Supreme Court of the United States. Rieders is the past regional president of the Federal Bar Association and is a life member of the distinguished American Law Institute, which promulgates proposed rules adopted by many state courts. He is a past president of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice, formerly Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association. As a founder of the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, he served on the Board for 15 years.

Not only has Rieders held many highly esteemed, leadership positions, he authored legislation related to the Patient Safety Authority and the Mcare Act, which governs medical and hospital liability actions in Pennsylvania. He authored texts upon which both practitioners and judges rely, including Pennsylvania Malpractice Laws and Forms, and Financial Responsibility Law Issues in Pennsylvania, the latter governing auto and truck collisions in Pennsylvania. In addition, he wrote several books on the practice of law in Pennsylvania regarding wrongful death and survivor actions, insurance bad faith, legal malpractice claims and worker rights, among others. Rieders also serves as a resource to practitioners as a regular speaker for Celesq, an arm of the world’s largest legal publisher, Thomson Reuters West Publishing.

As recognition of his wide range of contribution to his profession and of his dedication to protecting the rights of his clients, he received numerous awards, among them the George F. Douglas Amicus Curiae Award, the Milton D. Rosenberg Award, the B’nai B’rith Justice Award, and awards of recognition from the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers. [ Attorney Bio ]