I had breast aug in 2001. they were clearly wrong & the Dr. offered to fix for free. as painfull as it was & sensitive to my womanhood it got worse, 2012 & 7 free corrective surgeries later my breast are horribly disfigured.I would have included pictures if I could. He is still trying to get me to do an 8th (for free) & he told me to loss weight 1st, as if this hasnt been a slap in the face enough already. can I sue? I cant afford to go to another Dr. plus this has been to painful to explain in limited characters
I'm not admitted in FL (only in CA), but I can offer the following general thoughts.
Medical malpractice claims can be tough. In a malpractice case, you first must establish that the medical professional(s) acted below the standard of care. That can usually only be established through expert testimony from a doctor willing to say that the treating doctor was negligent by falling below the standard of care. The focus on that aspect is not on the result, but whether the procedures followed were ones that another plastic surgeon, using applicable standards of care, would have (or could have) done the same thing.
Secondly, you must establish that the negligence was the cause of harm. In other words, if the condition is something that he would have had to deal with anyway, or if the condition is something that could have reasonably expected, the defense will say that the negligence of the doctor did nothing to make the condition worse, or at least no worse than what could have been expected as a possible outcome. That is typically where these kinds of cases falter; the plaintiff may be able to show that the professional made a mistake, but cannot overcome the argument that the mistake didn't do any additional harm. In your case, plastic surgeons often have a long list of potential outcomes that they warn you of at the beginning and the position that they take is that plastic surgery is not an exact art, and that the results cannot be guaranteed. Taking that a step further (as defense attorneys will), they will say that just because you had a bad result, does not mean that you were the victim of "bad medicine." (It's callous, but a cold reality of most malpractice cases.)
The third point is the issue of damages. If the negligence caused your mom to incur additional injuries, and pay for those additional medical services, those would be "special damages" that may be recovered.
An additional issue is the timeliness of your claim/ As I understand it, in Florida the statute of limitations for medical malpractice is two years from when the patient either knew, or should have known with the exercise of reasonable diligence, that the injury has occurred and there is a reasonable possibility that the injury was caused by medical malpractice. This definition comes from a combination of the actual statute itself, (see 95.11, F.S.) The issue is going to be when did you know or should have known that the doctor messed up. After the 1st surgery? or the 2nd? or the 7th? That may be a difficult issue to overcome if the current conditions your dealing with were the result of mistakes made in the original surgery.
Further, many states (my home state of CA included), have certain "notice" requirements that mandate that you must notify the doctor of your intent to pursue such a claim before filing (in CA, we call it a "364 Notice").
All that being said, this sounds like a truly traumatizing experience, and would not want you to think I'm discouraging you from potentially pursuing the matter. That's why I would suggest that you consult with a local attorney specializing in professional (medical) malpractice cases. It's virtually impossible to correctly assess your case in a limited forum like this, and an assessment of the case requires a detailed review of all medical records, both by a competent med mal attorney AND by an expert doctor. Most reputable PI/malpractice lawyers will consult with you for little or no cost. is a good resource for locating such an attorney.
Good luck to you!
Christian K. Lassen IIPersonal Injury LawyerPhiladelphia, PA ·
A bad plastic surgery result isn't necessary malpractice. The only way to determine if there was malpractice is to get a med mal lawyer to order all your medical records and bills and send them to an expert to review to ascertain whether there was a breach of the standard of care. Search 's "find a lawyer" for a medical malpractice lawyer to investigate this for you.
I agree with my colleagues. You can feel free to call me so we can go over your case more closely. Call me at 813.254.7119 or even email me at [email protected].
