Miami Beach Plastic Surgery Error Lawyers
Cosmetic surgery is still medical care, and patients have the right to expect appropriate surgical technique, monitoring, infection prevention, and follow-up treatment. When a procedure leads to an unexpected injury, the concern may extend well beyond dissatisfaction with the cosmetic result. Nerve damage, severe infection, tissue injury, organ damage, blood loss, or another serious complication can require hospitalization, corrective surgery, and months of additional treatment.
Our Miami Beach plastic surgery error lawyers represent patients who have been harmed during cosmetic and reconstructive procedures. Sotolongo Law is a boutique personal injury firm with more than 20 years of experience handling serious injury claims and a background in medical malpractice defense that gives our legal team valuable insight into the medical issues involved in these cases.
Plastic surgery malpractice requires a close look at the procedure the patient underwent, the surgeon’s decisions, what happened during recovery, and how providers responded when complications appeared. We work with medical professionals when necessary to understand whether the care met accepted standards and how an error changed the patient’s health, appearance, or need for future treatment.
Plastic Surgery Malpractice Can Take Many Forms
Plastic surgery malpractice may begin before the first incision. A surgeon should evaluate whether a patient is an appropriate candidate for a procedure, consider relevant medical conditions and medications, discuss significant risks, and develop a surgical plan suited to the patient and the operation being performed.
Problems during surgery can involve technique, anesthesia, excessive blood loss, injury to surrounding tissue, nerve damage, or mistakes involving the location or extent of the procedure. Some injuries become apparent immediately, while others develop during the hours or days that follow.
The setting where the procedure is performed may also become important. Cosmetic surgery can take place in hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, or other medical facilities. Records concerning staffing, anesthesia, monitoring, recovery, and emergency response can help show how the facility handled the patient before and after surgery.
A malpractice claim may also involve more than one provider. Depending on what occurred, responsibility could involve the plastic surgeon, anesthesiologist, nursing staff, facility, or another healthcare professional involved in the patient’s treatment.
The focus is on the quality of the medical care and the injury it caused. A disappointing cosmetic result by itself is different from a patient suffering serious physical harm because accepted medical standards were not followed.
BBL and Liposuction Errors Can Cause Severe Injuries
Brazilian butt lift procedures and liposuction deserve particular attention because complications can become serious very quickly. Both procedures require an understanding of anatomy, careful technique, appropriate patient selection, and close monitoring during and after surgery.
A Brazilian butt lift generally involves removing fat through liposuction and transferring that fat to the buttocks. Errors involving the location or manner of fat injection can create severe complications. When a patient deteriorates following the procedure, the operative records, anesthesia documentation, postoperative findings, and subsequent hospital treatment may become critical to understanding what happened.
Liposuction also involves more than removing unwanted fat. The extent of the procedure, areas treated, amount removed, fluid management, blood loss, anesthesia, and the patient’s underlying health can all influence safety. A serious injury may involve damage to internal structures, excessive fluid shifts, bleeding, infection, or other complications requiring emergency care.
Some patients undergo several cosmetic procedures during the same surgical session. Combining procedures can affect the duration and complexity of surgery as well as the demands of postoperative recovery. When complications follow, the complete treatment plan should be reviewed rather than looking at one procedure in isolation.
Corrective treatment may include another operation, removal of damaged tissue, wound care, hospitalization, or care from another plastic surgeon. Those subsequent records can provide valuable evidence about the nature of the original injury and what was required to address it.
Infection and Follow-Up Care Are Critical After Plastic Surgery
The period after cosmetic surgery can be as important as the procedure itself. Patients commonly experience some pain, swelling, bruising, and discomfort during recovery, but certain changes may signal a complication that needs medical attention.
Increasing redness, drainage, fever, worsening pain, unusual swelling, changes in the appearance of an incision, or a declining overall condition can point to infection or another developing problem. The response to those symptoms may determine whether the patient receives timely treatment or develops a much more serious injury.
Severe postoperative infections can require intravenous antibiotics, surgical drainage, removal of damaged or infected tissue, or extended hospitalization. In some cases, infection causes permanent scarring, tissue loss, or the need for reconstructive procedures.
Follow-up communication can therefore become an important part of a malpractice investigation. Phone messages, portal communications, office notes, photographs, prescriptions, and instructions provided to the patient may show when symptoms were reported and how the medical team responded.
A patient who raises concerns after surgery should receive care appropriate to the symptoms being described. When worsening symptoms are repeatedly attributed to an ordinary recovery without adequate evaluation, valuable treatment time may be lost. Reviewing that timeline can help determine whether an earlier response could have reduced the severity of the injury.
Florida Law Applies Medical Malpractice Standards to Plastic Surgery Claims
Plastic surgery is elective in many situations, but the same fundamental medical malpractice standards apply when a healthcare provider delivers negligent care. Florida Statutes § 766.102 governs the prevailing professional standard of care and requires a claimant to establish that a healthcare provider breached that standard and caused the resulting injury.
Informed consent may also become particularly important in cosmetic surgery. Florida Statutes § 766.103, the Florida Medical Consent Law, addresses informed consent for medical treatment and procedures. Consent discussions may include the nature of the procedure, substantial risks, expected benefits, and available alternatives.
Signing a consent form does not give a medical provider permission to perform a procedure negligently. A patient may knowingly accept recognized risks associated with surgery while still having a claim when an injury results from care that falls below accepted professional standards.
Plastic surgery malpractice claims are also generally subject to Florida’s medical negligence presuit requirements. Florida Statutes §§ 766.106 and 766.203 address the investigation, expert support, and presuit notice that generally must occur before litigation begins.
Florida Statutes § 95.11(5)(c) establishes the limitations period applicable to medical malpractice claims, including the general two-year limitations period and four-year statute of repose, subject to the circumstances and statutory exceptions. Determining the applicable deadline can be particularly important when complications develop gradually or when a patient does not immediately know why corrective treatment became necessary.
Building a Plastic Surgery Malpractice Claim Requires Medical Detail
Plastic surgery cases often involve records from several stages of care. Preoperative evaluations may show what the surgeon knew about the patient before surgery. Operative reports describe the procedure that was performed. Anesthesia records, recovery notes, laboratory findings, photographs, imaging, and follow-up records may document when complications first appeared.
Corrective treatment can add another important layer. A second surgeon may identify tissue damage, infection, misplaced material, scarring, or another problem while treating the injury. Hospital records may document the severity of a complication that was not apparent from the original surgeon’s notes.
Sotolongo Law’s medical malpractice defense background provides insight into how physicians, medical experts, facilities, and insurers evaluate allegations involving surgical care. Our plastic surgery malpractice attorneys can work with qualified medical professionals to examine the procedure, postoperative course, and relationship between the suspected error and the patient’s injuries.
The consequences may extend well beyond another medical bill. A patient may face corrective surgery, additional time away from work, permanent scarring or disfigurement, chronic pain, nerve damage, future medical treatment, or limitations caused by the injury. Those effects become part of evaluating the losses associated with the claim.
Sotolongo Law provides the personal attention of a boutique practice while handling medically complex claims involving healthcare professionals, facilities, and insurers. We also serve Spanish-speaking clients and families and place a strong emphasis on clear communication throughout the case.
Frequently Asked Questions About Plastic Surgery Errors in Miami Beach
Can I bring a malpractice claim if I signed a plastic surgery consent form?
Signing an informed consent form does not prevent every malpractice claim. Consent to the recognized risks of a procedure is different from consenting to negligent medical care. The circumstances of the injury, the information provided before surgery, and the care actually delivered should all be evaluated.
Can an infection after plastic surgery be malpractice?
An infection can develop even when appropriate care is provided, but malpractice may be involved when the infection is linked to negligent care or when warning signs are not recognized and treated appropriately. Infection-control practices, postoperative instructions, follow-up records, and the timing of treatment may all be relevant.
What records are important after a BBL or liposuction injury?
Important evidence may include the surgeon’s preoperative evaluation, operative report, anesthesia record, recovery notes, photographs, communications with the surgical office, follow-up records, hospital records, and documentation from any physician who provided corrective treatment.
Does needing corrective plastic surgery mean the first surgeon committed malpractice?
The need for another procedure does not automatically establish negligence. Corrective surgery records can, however, help identify what went wrong, the extent of the injury, and whether a problem with the original procedure caused the need for additional treatment.
Can I recover compensation for permanent scarring or disfigurement?
Permanent scarring and disfigurement may be part of the damages in a medical malpractice claim when they result from negligent care. The claim may also include additional medical expenses, lost income, future treatment needs, pain and suffering, and other losses supported by the circumstances.
Contact Sotolongo Law
A serious plastic surgery complication can leave a patient facing corrective procedures, infection treatment, permanent scarring, or other consequences that were never part of the expected result. Our plastic surgery malpractice attorneys can review the surgical and follow-up records, evaluate the medical issues involved, and determine whether negligent care contributed to the injury.
Contact Sotolongo Law for a free consultation if you or a family member suffered a serious injury following a plastic surgery procedure in Miami Beach. There is no attorney fee unless we successfully obtain a recovery for you. Because We Care®.