Nearly half of all compensation claims for cosmetic surgery procedures are successfully concluded in favour of the claimant. Further, such claims are often awarded larger amounts due to the seriousness of injuries and the extent of surgery required to repair any problems.
As more and more people choose to go under the knife to achieve the perfect body, the number of people who find they are unsatisfied with the results, or made seriously ill from their procedure, has also risen. As recently announced by the Medical Defence Union (MDU), this has led to a stark increase in the number of patients suing their private clinics for compensation.
The MDU, which represents over half of doctors and surgeons in malpractice and negligence cases, believes the increase in compensation claims to be mainly due to “a huge rise in both the number of procedures and patient expectations for a perfect outcome”. However the union went on to say in some cases surgeons failed to obtain proper patient consent, carried out substandard work and failed to carry out a proper consultation process with some clients.
Whilst the MDU chose not to release the actual number of compensation claims made in relation to cosmetic surgery procedures, it did state that the figure was “significant”. Surgeons’ leaders argue the findings support growing arguments for greater regulation in the cosmetic surgery field.
The MDU’s report was released just weeks before the Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) implant scandal came to the fore which saw some of the country’s largest private cosmetic clinics accused of putting profits before their patients’ interests.
Over 70,000 breast augmentation patients found out they had been implanted with substandard implants made from a grade of silicone gel not fit for humans. The implants are also associated with a greater risk of rupture and were originally thought to be linked to a form of cancer. Whilst the NHS announced it would remove and replace all PIP implants fitted by NHS surgeons, many private clinics refused to offer their patients the same level of service and insisted on charging their patients to have the implants removed and/or replaced, despite the health warnings.
Whilst problems with the private cosmetic surgery industry have been hitting the headlines recently, calls for better regulation private surgeons and clinics are not new. Leading surgeons have argued for better regulation for a number of years, believing surgeons should be under a greater obligation to offer proper aftercare and to have full liability insurance, preventing them from undertaking poor work and disappearing after causing suffering.
For free initial advice on whether you are eligible to make a claim for compensation relating to a cosmetic surgery procedure, call our specialist clinical negligence solicitors on 01376 529299.
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