We live in a world where appearance is everything. We also live in a world where science and medicine have developed to such an extent that suffering from even the most severe injuries can still lead to surgeons putting you in a position with a fairly good quality of life (I’ve had my knee pretty much entirely reconstructed; rewind a hundred years ago, I’d have had it amputated!)
So when you combine the need for looking great with the technology we have today, cosmetic surgery is now increasingly popular amongst anyone with enough of a disposable income to afford it. It is now so readily available that it isn’t just the celebs that are having work doesn’t to look as good as possible. In fact, many people take out loans or use credit to be able to afford cosmetic surgery.
Risks of cosmetic surgery
It’s a well known fact that all invasive surgical procedures carry inherent risks. The common risks that you will normally be warned about are infections, implant / device failures or rejections, scarring, and pain, to name a few. But the people performing these operations, despite being (I would hope!) fully qualified and practised in the procedure they are doing on you, are still only human. It is human nature that we all make mistakes.
So when you decide to have a cosmetic procedure done, you are not only accepting the inherent risks, but you are putting your health, or even life, on the line. As such, any surgeon practising such procedures should have insurance to cover them for negligence in the event that something goes wrong. Mistakes can happen!
So the big question is this – what are your rights when it comes to cosmetic negligence claims for compensation? Can you make a claim if the work you have had done has caused an adverse affect it shouldn’t have, or an affect you were warned of? Or can you claim if the surgeon accidentally does something wrong?
The answer is yes – but proving that there was negligence in any claim for clinical negligence is not easy to do.
You must be able to prove that:
- The quality of the work done by your surgeon was below standard.
- The adverse affect, or injury you have sustained, does not fall within the category of an “expected or accepted risk” of the procedure.
- The outcome was not what you had expected (which can be more of a Supply of Goods and Services Act factor).
Doing any of the above is not always easy unless the mistake or problem is blatantly obvious. I mean, if a surgeon accidentally leaves a surgical instrument inside of you, that is an obvious and clear mistake! But if you get an infection after a breast augmentation procedure, you may have to accept that it was just an unfortunate thing to happen. It’s all about fault, and proving it!
Given that cosmetic negligence compensation claims are generally quite difficult to win, you need the best solicitor on your case.
Give our expert negligence legal team a call 0800 634 7575 as we have decades of experience in representing victims for cosmetic negligence claims.
