Boca Raton Plastic Surgery Error Lawyers
Cosmetic surgery may be elective, but the medical care surrounding it carries the same need for sound judgment, proper technique, and appropriate follow-up as any other surgical procedure. When something goes wrong, a patient may face infection, nerve damage, tissue loss, corrective surgery, permanent scarring, or a recovery that bears little resemblance to what was expected.
Our Boca Raton plastic surgery error lawyers represent patients injured by negligent cosmetic and reconstructive care. Sotolongo Law brings more than 20 years of personal injury experience to medically complex claims, together with a background in medical malpractice defense that helps our legal team understand surgical technique, treatment records, postoperative complications, and the medical issues insurers may challenge.
Plastic surgery in Boca Raton may take place in a physician’s office, outpatient surgery setting, ambulatory surgical center, or hospital. Complications may later require emergency treatment or care from another surgeon. Following that medical history from the original consultation through corrective treatment can help show how the injury developed and where the care may have fallen below accepted standards.
Safe Plastic Surgery Starts Before the Procedure
The decisions made before surgery can affect what happens in the operating room and during recovery. A surgeon should understand the patient’s medical history, medications, prior procedures, relevant health conditions, and other factors that may influence the safety of the operation.
Patient selection can become important when a medical condition increases the risks associated with anesthesia, blood loss, infection, wound healing, or another complication. The number and type of procedures planned for one surgical session may also affect the length and complexity of the operation.
The patient should also receive information needed to make an informed decision about treatment. Florida Statutes § 766.103, the Florida Medical Consent Law, addresses informed consent for medical treatment and procedures. Depending on the circumstances, the discussion may include the nature of the proposed procedure, substantial risks and hazards, and reasonable alternatives.
A consent form does not make negligent treatment acceptable. The fact that a patient understood a recognized risk of surgery is different from an injury caused by poor technique, inadequate monitoring, or another departure from accepted medical care.
Preoperative records may later become important evidence. Medical histories, laboratory results, photographs, consultation notes, consent documents, and surgical plans can help establish what the provider knew before the procedure and how the operation was supposed to be performed.
BBL and Liposuction Errors Can Cause Major Medical Complications
Brazilian butt lifts and liposuction are important areas of plastic surgery malpractice because both procedures involve medical risks that require careful technique and monitoring.
A Brazilian butt lift generally combines liposuction with fat transfer to the buttocks. Florida Statutes § 458.328 establishes specific rules for gluteal fat grafting performed in office surgery settings. The physician must conduct an in-person examination no later than the day before the procedure, and fat extraction and gluteal fat injection must be performed by the physician.
Florida law also restricts where the fat may be injected. It must remain in the subcutaneous space and may not cross the fascia overlying the gluteal muscle. The physician must use ultrasound guidance, or another technology authorized under applicable rules that provides equivalent or greater guidance, while placing and navigating the cannula for fat injection.
Office surgery settings performing these procedures must also maintain the required one-physician-to-one-patient ratio from the administration of anesthesia through extubation.
Those requirements can make operative documentation particularly important after a BBL injury. Records may help establish who performed the procedure, where fat was injected, what guidance was used, and what happened if the patient’s condition changed.
Liposuction presents a different set of concerns involving blood loss, fluid management, anesthesia, infection, and potential injury to nearby structures. Florida’s office-surgery requirements also address registration of offices performing certain liposuction procedures.
When liposuction is combined with other cosmetic surgery, the overall treatment plan matters. The amount of surgery performed during one session, the patient’s condition, and postoperative monitoring may all become relevant when a complication develops.
Infection and Wound Problems Can Worsen After Discharge
Many plastic surgery patients recover outside a hospital, making postoperative instructions and communication with the medical team especially important.
Some pain, bruising, and swelling may be expected after a procedure. Fever, increasing redness, drainage, severe or worsening pain, skin discoloration, shortness of breath, weakness, wound separation, or a general decline can signal a problem that needs medical attention.
Postoperative infection can progress quickly. Treatment may include intravenous antibiotics, drainage, removal of damaged or infected tissue, hospitalization, or another surgical procedure. Severe infections can lead to tissue loss, significant scarring, systemic illness, or prolonged recovery.
The medical response after the patient reports symptoms may become a central part of the claim. Phone records, text messages, patient portal communications, photographs, prescriptions, and office notes can help establish when the surgical team learned of the problem and what advice or treatment followed.
Records from an emergency department or another surgeon can add important information. A different provider may diagnose an infection, identify tissue damage, document wound complications, or recommend corrective treatment after the original office characterized the symptoms as routine recovery.
Infection claims may involve both the circumstances surrounding the original procedure and the way the medical team responded afterward.
Corrective Treatment Can Help Explain the Original Injury
Patients injured during plastic surgery sometimes seek care from another surgeon after it becomes clear that the original recovery is not progressing normally.
Corrective treatment can involve wound care, removal or replacement of implants, repair of damaged tissue, treatment of infection, or another procedure intended to address the medical and cosmetic effects of the original surgery.
The records from that later care may provide valuable evidence. A corrective surgeon may document tissue necrosis, nerve injury, extensive scarring, infection, misplaced material, or another condition that helps explain the patient’s symptoms.
Photographs can also play a larger role in plastic surgery claims than in many other forms of medical malpractice. Images taken before surgery, during recovery, after a complication appeared, and following corrective treatment can help document wound progression, tissue damage, disfigurement, and changes in appearance.
The effects may extend well beyond another medical bill. A patient may lose significant time from work, experience chronic pain or numbness, undergo repeated procedures, or live with permanent scarring or disfigurement. Some injuries also affect mobility, confidence, relationships, and ordinary daily activities.
Sotolongo Law’s medical malpractice defense background gives our legal team insight into the way surgeons, medical experts, facilities, and insurers assess these records. Qualified experts may be needed to address surgical technique, infection, anesthesia, causation, corrective treatment, or the patient’s future medical needs.
Florida Medical Malpractice Rules Apply to Plastic Surgery Claims
Plastic surgery malpractice is generally governed by the same professional standard of care that applies to other forms of medical negligence. Florida Statutes § 766.102 requires proof that the healthcare provider breached the prevailing professional standard of care and that the breach caused the patient’s injury.
That connection between the medical error and the injury matters because complications can occur even when a procedure is performed correctly. The medical records and expert analysis should establish what the provider did incorrectly and how that failure caused additional harm.
Florida also requires a presuit investigation for medical negligence claims. Florida Statutes § 766.203 generally requires reasonable grounds for the claim to be supported by a verified written medical expert opinion. Section 766.106 requires notice to prospective defendants before the lawsuit proceeds.
The appropriate defendants depend on the facts. A claim may involve the plastic surgeon, anesthesiologist, nursing staff, surgical facility, or another healthcare provider responsible for part of the patient’s care.
Florida Statutes § 95.11(5)(c) governs the time available to pursue a medical malpractice action. The statute generally provides two years from the incident or from when the incident was discovered or should have been discovered through due diligence, together with a four-year statute of repose and specific exceptions.
Plastic surgery cases can involve several medically important dates, including the procedure, first reports of symptoms, emergency treatment, discovery of an injury, and later corrective surgery. Those dates should be evaluated as part of both the medical and legal review.
Frequently Asked Questions About Plastic Surgery Errors in Boca Raton
Can combining several cosmetic procedures during one surgery affect a malpractice claim?
It can. The number and type of procedures performed during one session may affect the duration of surgery, anesthesia, blood loss, fluid management, and recovery. The complete surgical plan and the patient’s health should be considered when evaluating a complication.
What if I went to another doctor after my plastic surgeon said my symptoms were normal?
Records from the second provider may be highly relevant. They can document the patient’s condition at that point, identify infection or tissue damage, and show whether additional treatment became necessary because a complication had progressed.
Can negligent follow-up care support a claim even if the surgery itself was performed correctly?
Yes. Medical care continues after the procedure. A claim may involve failure to respond appropriately to signs of infection, bleeding, wound problems, neurological symptoms, or another complication during recovery.
What evidence can help document scarring or disfigurement?
Medical records, photographs, corrective-surgery records, physician examinations, and documentation of future treatment may help establish the nature and permanence of scarring or disfigurement.
Can a surgical facility share responsibility with the plastic surgeon?
Potentially. Responsibility may involve separate issues such as nursing care, monitoring, staffing, infection control, anesthesia, or emergency response. The role of each provider or facility must be evaluated based on what occurred.
Contact Our Boca Raton Plastic Surgery Error Lawyers
An injury after cosmetic surgery may leave you facing corrective procedures, infection treatment, permanent scarring, or health problems that were never part of the expected recovery. Our plastic surgery malpractice attorneys can evaluate the procedure, postoperative records, photographs, and later medical care to determine whether negligent treatment contributed to the harm.
At Sotolongo Law, we represent patients harmed by negligent plastic surgery with the personal attention of a boutique practice and the experience to take on surgeons, surgical facilities, insurers, and other well-resourced defendants. Our team brings more than 20 years of personal injury experience and a strong understanding of the medicine behind these claims. Contact us for a free consultation. We charge no attorney fee unless we obtain a recovery for you. Because We Care®.