Plastic Surgery Blunders Rise

It appears that the face of plastic surgery is becoming ugly; this is because there is a worrying trend in rising medical negligence and botched surgeries taking place.

The fear of a clinical error in this field is more likely when consumers travel abroad in search of cheaper prices for plastic surgery. Instead of a bargain - what many are reporting to receive is instead personal injury and severe pain.

As a result, an Exeter surgeon Vikram Devaraj, has warned women about the dangers of undergoing plastic surgery abroad.

His warnings mirror those of medical negligence solicitors, who have for years been advising patients against ‘cosmetic surgery tourism' and other cheaper procedures.

Mr Devaraj has asked boyfriends and husbands not to give their other half a surgery Christmas present, as he and doctors at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, have been forced to carry out emergency surgery following erroneous cosmetic procedures for people recently back from surgery trips.

He noted that patients are all too easily encouraged to buy procedures, with reports of two for one surgery, online discount offers, vouchers that can be exchanged and a cosmetic raffle prize.

Medical Negligence lawyer faces the dangerous topic

Laurence Vick, a clinical negligence lawyer, also pointed out the problems which could arise if anything went wrong following treatment.

He said that too many patients return from a cosmetic holiday and unwillingly put a strain on the UK's financial budget, due to lack of responsibility: "All too often we see cases in which the client has returned to the UK without having any plan of action for post-operative care from the overseas clinic or indeed, any idea of what to do if the operation turns out to have been unsuccessful. If already working to a tight budget the patient is not going to have enough money to return to the overseas clinic. Inevitably patients have to turn to the NHS, creating a financial burden for the NHS."

He commented that a compensation claim for negligence abroad can be difficult: "If you have cosmetic surgery abroad the likelihood is that any legal proceedings you take against the clinic will also have to be in the country in which you had the operation," he stated.

"So that means having to travel back to that country to be present during the legal procedure, in a foreign country, with the proceedings in a foreign language and according to a foreign legal system and with the additional expense of a foreign lawyer.

"In practice that means that trying to obtain compensation can be impossible. We have been successful in pursuing foreign clinics and doctors through the English courts. In these cases we have been able to rely on factors connecting the treatment and contractual arrangements with the clinic to this country.

"A number of clinics target UK patients through magazine advertising in this country and their websites use UK domain names and often promote the fact that operations are performed by surgeons with GMC registration or membership of the GMC Specialist Register for Plastic Surgeons.

"This approach will not work in every case where treatment was carried out abroad but we are helped significantly if we can point to the fact that the contract discussions and the initial consultations took place in the UK and if the contract or consent is written in English and signed over here and payment is made in sterling in this country or is sent from the UK.

"When applying to the English courts to seek permission to pursue claims over here we highlight the fact that the client will have suffered his or her financial loss and expense and the physical and psychological consequences of the failed surgery in this country.

"This procedural tactic is not going to work in every case but it is something we urge clients to consider if the overseas clinic has a base in the UK, as many of them do. These clinics do not seem to have thought through the jurisdictional and legal issues."