Facelift scarred me for life: Pensioner tells of botched operation ordeal

A pensioner has told how she was left scarred for life following a botched facelift.

Pearl Richman was awarded more than £43,000 in compensation after her life was ‘almost ruined’ by a procedure carried out in 2010.

After the operation, the 69-year-old developed necrosis – a form of cell injury which results in the premature death of skin cells – and was left with open flesh wounds.

But despite a court finding in favour of Mrs Richman and awarding compensation, she says she still hasn’t received a penny and the surgeon, from Italy, is still believed to be operating in the UK.

Mrs Richman, from Kenilworth, took her civil case to a county court hearing in April, where a judge awarded costs against the doctor for negligence.

Now Mrs Richman is calling for the government to take action over ‘seagull surgeons’ – foreign doctors who fly into the UK and undertake failed procedures before returning home.

“This might sound dramatic to people, but this has almost ruined my life,” said Mrs Richman.

“I always took pride in my appearance and over the years I went from having lots of photos of myself around the house, to having none.

“I had talked about having a facelift but they are expensive and we didn’t have the money. My kids had always talked about buying one for me and one year my daughter Jo, who has her own business, was able to do just that.”

The company which organised the £8,000 facelift has now gone into administration. The centre introduced Mrs Richman to an Italian surgeon before she underwent the procedure at a hospital in London.

She added: “He never talked about necrosis at all. It wasn’t mentioned. He talked about the normal risks but at no point at all did he mention necrosis. I just remember him saying that he would make me happy.

“When they took the drains out of my face it hurt so much, I screamed and it started to go purple. It went from a large purple bruise to a huge black scab that had the feel and look of leather.”
The company contacted the surgeon in Italy and he arranged an emergency appointment with Mrs Richman.

She said: “When he saw me he took me straight into a treatment room and said it had to be treated like first degree burns. He told me he was so sorry and that it did not happen very often.

“He offered laser treatment which I had and he said he would do everything he could to make it better and put it right. That is the last we have ever heard from him.”

Medical negligence solicitor Jeanette Whyman, of law firm Wright Hassall, is now pursuing the case.
She said: “I am aware of ‘seagull surgeons’ but have not come across the issue to such a horrific degree. He does have insurers but because he has not notified them of the incident, they will not cover him.

“His residency outside of the UK shouldn’t, in theory, make a difference. What it means is we can get a judgment here but it has to be enforced abroad which can be expensive. If there are no assets in the UK, you cannot enforce here and it has to be pursued abroad.”

Mrs Richman is now urging anyone contemplating surgery to undertake extensive checks.
She added: “Surgeons should not be limited to their country but the government should make sure there is a level of accountability through qualifications and insurances.

“Clinics should also be responsible for the actions of the surgeons they use.  would not want (this) to happen to another single person.”

This article is courtesy of Wright Hassall.

'Black box' tracks errors in Toronto operating room

A “black box” installed in a Toronto operating room earlier this year has found that surgical teams are making the vast majority of their errors during the same two steps surgery after surgery.

Now researchers are looking at how to reduce those mistakes and prevent similar slips in the future.

Dr. Teodor Grantcharov, who developed the operating room black box compares using the technology to learning how to golf.

“Usually we can’t appreciate our performance while we’re in the middle of the operation,” said Grantcharov, a surgeon at St. Michael’s Hospital. “You swing and you think you’ve done a great job and someone video records it and shows you how you’ve done and obviously there are so many things to improve.”

Three microphones and three cameras began recording all of Grantcharov’s surgeries at the end of April as part of the black box project. Two of the cameras film the operating room, while a third internal camera records what’s happening inside the patient’s body while the surgeon and his team perform minimally invasive surgeries. The video and audio collected is then analyzed by a team, who look at surgical techniques, the surgical team’s communication and how they work together, and what kind of hazards exist in the operating room.

An initial pilot recorded about 80 gastric bypass surgeries and found that 86 per cent of the errors were made during just two steps: suturing and grafting the bowel.

That information was very valuable, Grantcharov said, and a team is now working on creating educational tools based on the data.

“If we know where the errors happen, then we will know what to do to avoid them in the future.”

There are small errors in every surgery, but that doesn’t mean that a patient’s safety is compromised, Grantcharov said. An error could be something as simple as a surgeon losing sight for a split second of a needle while suturing.

“Error, for us, is minimal, the smallest deviation from the perfect course,” he explained. “In the vast majority of cases, it is nothing. The patient will recover perfectly and nobody will ever know that there has been an error.”

Traditionally, however, error hasn’t been discussed in surgical culture, Grantcharov said. He’s hoping having black boxes in operating rooms will help promote a safety culture similar to that of the aviation industry, where people can speak freely about mistakes and point out things they believe could be done better.

“I think it’s acceptable, it’s just human, that we make errors,” he said. “It’s not acceptable not to do anything about it.”

Reducing slips in the operating room will not only make surgery safer for patients, but it will help cut costs, too, said Grantcharov. If surgeons make fewer errors, they’ll be able to operate more quickly and do more surgeries in a given time period. Preventing errors will also cut back on adverse events — injuries that need to be fixed — which also saves money, he explained.

Currently St. Michael’s is the only hospital with the black box technology, but other hospitals have said they, too, want to try out the cameras and microphones. Grantcharov hopes black boxes will be installed in some European hospitals soon, and wants the technology to eventually spread to a wide variety of procedures in operating rooms around the world.

So far, surgical teams at St. Michael’s have been open to the black box project, and they see the potential learning and safety benefits, Grantcharov said. But there is potential for the technology to be used in less positive ways, such as recording evidence for use in malpractice lawsuits.

“If we choose to use it as a tool to place blame and to point fingers at surgeons for litigation, I think this will never take off,” Grantcharov said.

“It’s important that we use this constructively, that we use this to improve our selves, to become better surgeons and safer surgeons and improve the outcome for out patients. If we use it in this direction, I think this will change the way we practice.” 

This article is courtesy of the Brampton Guardian.

Cosmetic surgery compensation claims - Infographic

The original source of this information about cosmetic surgery compensation claims was Blackwater Law.

How to avoid the cosmetic surgery cowboys

In 2014, success is measured by your appearance. Whereas make-up used to do the trick, people are now looking to celebrity influence for immediate and enduring perfection, whatever the cost. And there are plenty of unregulated companies willing to gamble with your looks in exchange for your cash.

The Government recently announced reforms for the cosmetic surgery industry in order to improve patient safety, and while some of the proposed measures are welcome and overdue there have been criticisms that the changes do not go far enough. 

Whether you like it or not, cosmetic surgery in the UK is now big business with an estimated 700,000 surgical and non-surgical procedures performed each year. The dramatic rise in the number of young people opting to have cosmetic procedures may be explained in part by the ever watchful eye of social media, pressure from mainstream media, and a perceived need to constantly 'look good.'  Horror stories - such as Leslie Ash’s botched lip surgery, the tragic case of Claudia Aderotim who died in the US after an unapproved substance was injected into her buttocks, and of course the PIP breast implants scandal - are timely reminders that procedures are not without risk. Despite these isolated cases, the popularity of breast enhancements, botox and tummy tucks is ever increasing.

It can be hard to prove that practitioners in the field have adopted an approach that breaks the rules or cannot be endorsed by the majority of the profession. Until the law is in a stronger position to protect you and to avoid having to resort to legal action at all, it is wise to take all steps that you can to protect yourself. So what are some of the things someone should look out for when contemplating cosmetic surgery?

Check how experienced your treatment provider is, both generally, and with respect to the proposed procedure.  Can they tell you their success record? Beware ‘have a go’ inexperienced clinicians who are trying to move into a more lucrative field of cosmetic surgery without the requisite skills, training or experience.

Ensure any clinic you are considering for treatment is licensed with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). If the procedure involves surgery, check the treatment provider is registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) and a member of BAAPS (British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons). Only 43,000 of the 700,000 annual cosmetic procedures performed in the UK last year were done by BAAPS approved registered clinicians. BAAPS has thorough training and accreditation standards and so membership can reasonably be seen as a hallmark of quality.

Have you been told of (and shown photographs of) possible complications that may result from the treatment you are considering?  Typically these include infection, bleeding, wound breakdown, delayed healing, thrombosis, unfavourable scarring, asymmetry, and in extreme cases even nipple necrosis and gangrene.  Most competent surgeons will overstate the complications, rather than the reverse

Who is being tasked with obtaining your consent – the clinician performing the procedure or just a nurse or salesperson?  You should insist on the former as you need to be properly informed of the risks as well as the benefits of the procedure in order to be able to give proper informed consent to proceed.

Make sure that it is contractually clear, prior to treatment, who is responsible for monitoring your condition after surgery and dealing with a poor surgical outcome and who will be financially liable for the correction of any complications.  This is important because there is currently no legal requirement placing a duty on clinics or surgeons to provide aftercare where a patient is harmed as result of a cosmetic procedure.  There is talk of the government creating a system of redress if things go wrong. However, at the moment, the patient usually ends up going for help to the NHS, often through a local Accident & Emergency department.

Be extra careful if you are contemplating having dermal fillers or Botox injections which are available to members of the public without prescription and are currently no better regulated than ballpoint pens or toothbrushes! Government ministers have very recently announced that they may make it illegal to offer such procedures without training but nothing has yet been set in stone.

If you've had a bad experience with a cosmetic cowboy, Curtis Law would love to hear from you. You can visit their website www.curtislaw.co.uk or call them free on 0800 008 7450.

Cosmetic surgery – Time for new regulation?

Thank you to Curtis Law Solicitors for this guest post.

Cosmetic surgery and procedures have featured heavily in the media over the past months, with a vast increase of clinical negligence claims hitting the headlines.

More than six months ago, the Keogh review into cosmetic surgery developed a list of recommendations intended to improve the current industry in a hope to avoid what they described as a ‘crisis waiting to happen’.

The use of what are called ‘injectables’ including botox, dermal fillers and tanning agents, are barely regulated within the industry and are estimated to account for 90% of treatments and 75% of the industry’s turnover (Source:Mintel).

The treatments, described earlier this year by Sir Keogh as having “no more protection and redress than someone buying a ball point pen or a toothbrush”, allow almost anyone to administer these procedures with little or no training. Facial procedures can be completed at shopping centres, gyms and even parties at home.

Professionals have called for greater regulations to protect those choosing to use these services, but has this had any impact?

Advertising practices in the industry were called ‘highly misleading’ and little has been done to change this. Clinics are still found to be offering perks and package deals such as reducing pricing for referrals and offering surgery as a competition prize, despite Keogh recommending that these ‘socially irresponsible’ advertisements be banned.

“Dermal fillers, facial peels and toning fall into the non surgical procedures category. This also applies to laser hair, mole and varicose vein removal. It means that these techniques can be performed by non-medically qualified people at all types of venue. Because of this procedures are generally not as safe as they could be and are quite often uninsured. The majority of people using these services are unaware of this and not warned by the provider” Jerard Knott, Head of Clinical Negligence said.

“The treatments can lead to significant injury and complication when they go wrong, and the unqualified provider is only able to call the emergency services meaning that the immediate treatment required is not available,” he added.

“Greater regulation can only be a positive move” Jerard concluded.

A successful procedure has the ability to drastically improve a person’s self esteem, but the health complications resulting from botched procedures can ultimately put someone’s life at risk. If you’ve suffered cosmetic surgery negligence or are suffering pain or discomfort following a procedure and are looking to make a claim, contact Jerard Knott free on 0800 0087450.

The number of UK cosmetic surgery negligence cases is increasing

There has been a steady increase in the number of cases related to UK patients affected by cosmetic surgery negligence. At the time of consultation, cosmetic surgeons provide assurances and show pictures of people who had undergone cosmetic surgery. But due to bodies being different for different people, people often are not satisfied with the end result. There are also cases where the patients had badly suffered due to faulty cosmetic procedures. Such affected patients can get the help of personal injury solicitors who are experienced in claims for cosmetic surgery negligence.

Cosmetic surgeries that are applicable for the claims process include Botox, facial fillers, laser procedures such as laser hair removal, breast implants, nose jobs, varicose vein treatment and tummy tucks. Personal injury solicitors treat the incident as an accident and take the case forward with the insurance company with whom the cosmetic surgery provider has taken out a policy. There are a number of patients in the recent past who have received the full eligible compensation by using the help of an experienced personal injury lawyer.

A Case Study

In one such case, a 39 year old lady in Leicester underwent a cosmetic surgery procedure to set right her spider vein problem. The cosmetic treatment for removing the vein was actually provided by a set of beauticians, who had learnt the procedure recently by watching videos provided by the cosmetic surgery equipment manufacturer.

The treatment provider didn't test the effectiveness of the procedure by doing it on a small portion of the patient's skin. They started applying the procedure on the entire skin area resulting in unwanted scars and permanent pigment discoloration. Soon the lady decided to take the help of an experienced personal injury solicitor specializing in handling cosmetic surgery accidents. She finally got an accident claim of 10,500 pounds by working with the experienced attorney.

Plastic Surgery Disasters

Plastic Surgery Disasters – An infographic by the team at Accident-Compensation.co.uk

Cork mother died of flesh-eating infection following cosmetic surgery

A 57-year-old woman developed a lethal flesh eating infection and died ten days after undergoing a cosmetic liposuction procedure in the United States.

Mary Ryan, who was originally from Youghal, Co Cork, but living in Leesburg, Florida, had liposuction of her abdomen, neck and jowls at Mesos Cosmetic Surgery and Laser Center, Florida on 19 December 2012.

She travelled to Ireland with her husband James on 24 December to spend Christmas with their son Ian.

Ian Ryan told Cork Coroner's Court that when his mother arrived at his home on 26 December she went straight to bed as she was in a lot of pain.

"She was lying down and was in a serious bit of pain. She showed me her stomach. It was inflated. It looked battered and bruised. We called SouthDoc. They advised us to go straight to the hospital," he said.

Mrs Ryan was already extremely unwell when she arrived at the Accident and Emergency Department of Cork University Hospital at 10.30pm on 26 December complaining of abdominal pain.

She was subsequently diagnosed with necrotising fasciitis, a rare but recognized progressive soft tissue infection.

She underwent two debridement procedures in hospital to remove skin from her abdomen, in order to treat the infection.

Her condition continued to deteriorate and she died on 29 December.

A post-mortem by Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster found that her death was due to shock and sepsis due to necrotising fasciitis following a recent liposuction procedure.

Dr Bolster told the court necrotitising fasciitis was a very serious disease with a very high mortality rate, even if it is picked up very early.

The pathologist said that liposuction was a frequently performed cosmetic operation, but that there can be complications which are possibly fatal.

She told the court that Mrs Ryan was "incredibly unfortunate".

The inquest heard that Mrs Ryan had an underlying heart problem and had underwent a triple bypass surgery just months before the liposuction procedure, but the pathologist said that she died of infection and that her underlying heart problems probably just meant that she died faster.

The inquest heard that Mrs Ryan was assessed by her surgeon Dr Todd P Ginestra the day after the procedure when she complained of pain, but her wounds were clean and dry and he asked if she had picked up her narcotic medication.

She did not attend for her next appointment on 22 December and when her surgeon spoke to her on the phone she said she did not want to come in because she was feeling nauseated and tired and he explained she would feel better if she took the prescribed medication.

When she spoke to her doctor on 23 December she said she was feeling much better and that she did not want to come to see him the following day as she had a lot to do preparing to return to Ireland.

The court heard that there was a breakdown in communications between the clinic and her pharmacy and that she did not get her medication after the operation.

Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane recorded a verdict of death by medical misadventure and expressed her condolences to her husband, who was not in court and to her son, who was accompanied by his aunt.

"It's a sudden and very tragic sequence of events. Liposuction is not an entirely innocuous procedure and is not without its potential difficulties.

It's a well recognized side effect, but it is rare so she is extremely unfortunate in the circumstances," said the coroner.

This article is courtesy of RTE News Ireland.

Under your skin

Cosmetic surgeons wielding needles aren’t simply, as one doctor put it, “wrinkle chasers” anymore. With highly evolved perspectives on what truly constitutes a youthful look, doctors are now injecting a host of compounds to lift, mold, and contour. Most visits last no more than an hour, and recovery times are equally swift. It’s enough to make a scalpel seem downright crude. So who’s shooting what where?

Reflation Revolution
According to Beverly Hills dermatologist Ava Sham­ban, when it comes to aging, the main culprit is “deflation.” By age 50 or 60, she says, most of us have lost around 20 percent of our facial bone and fat, and as a result, our faces sag and look gaunt—not unlike a pillowcase over a shrunken cushion.

To pump up the volume, Shamban offers a procedure that was developed in Canada and is aptly called Reflation. Unlike more superficial wrinkle-erasing treatments, Reflation entails injecting a hyaluronic acid–based filler well beneath the dermal layer, where it sits on top of the bone and props the skin up, especially beneath the eyes, around the cheeks, at the nasolabial folds, and—most efficaciously, Shamban says—at the temples.

Aging temples? Indeed. They sink over time, and even the most expertly done face can look “off” if the temples are left lying close to the skull. But shoot a syringe of filler into them and they look “fantastic,” she says.

A total refill takes two or three visits, at a cost of $2,000 to $3,500, and the results last for about six months. Subsequent sessions, however, require less filler—and come with a smaller price tag.

The Liquid Nose Job
The nose is not immune from the aging process: Over time it can droop and appear flatter and longer. Bony irregularities that were camouflaged by the thicker skin and lipid layer we had in our 20s become more noticeable.

Now fillers—placed on top of the bone, cartilage, or tip—can give an old nose a youthful boost. “The padding softens the features,” says Coral Gables, Florida, cosmetic dermatologist Oscar Hevia—as long as the physician has a sculptor’s vision. “A millimeter can make a huge change,” cautions Stafford Broumand, an associate professor of plastic surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. The in-office procedure can be completed in as little as half an hour and starts at $700—a universe apart from the traditional two-hour rhinoplasty, which can set you back around $8,000.

Lip Service
They say a genuine smile never grows old—but try telling that to a cosmetic surgeon. Jeffrey Spiegel, the chief of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery at Boston University Medical Center, points out that as we age, our lips lengthen horizontally and fine lines creep up above them, vertically. The upper lip also drifts down, hiding teeth. Darrick Antell, an assistant clinical professor of plastic surgery at Columbia University, injects filler not into the lips but into the roll of skin that surrounds them. “It gives a fuller look without appearing ducky,” Antell says.

And those vertical lip lines? Cosmetic physicians are over the moon about Belotero Balance. Like most fillers, it is FDA-approved for deep nasolabial folds, but doctors are now using it for more-superficial lines—something that’s not possible with other fillers, which have a blue tinge that shows through skin if injected close to the surface. “It’s like Photoshop,” says Miami dermatologist Leslie Baumann. “The lines immediately plump up.” The downside? Considerable bruising for 5 to 10 days. A session costs $650 to $750, with results lasting about six to nine months. »

Carbon Dating
Once upon a time, carbon dioxide therapy was a little known medical practice used to improve circulation. Then, in 1998, beauty-minded scientists at the University of Siena, Italy, began injecting the gas into saggy knees, thighs, and bellies. The result: blood vessels dilated, sending a rush of oxygen into the problem areas. After six semiweekly sessions, skin density improved, and the area looked tauter. Enhanced circulation seems to flush out fluid buildup, improve fat metabolism, and promote collagen production, says Cesare Brandi, M.D., who was the lead author of the study. Subsequent research suggests that carbon therapy can be used as an adjunct to liposuction, to improve skin elasticity and smooth small lumps.

Carboxy, as the treatment is called, gained popularity in 2002 in Brazil. But, perhaps because practitioners would have to go abroad to learn the technique, it has yet to catch on with American doctors. There are, of course, outliers. Lisa Zdinak, a Manhattan ophthalmic plastic surgeon, uses a tiny needle attached to a gas tank to inject small puffs of CO into the skin around the eyes to treat dark circles. “It improves the capillary networks and reduces the bluish tinge by about 50 percent,” she says. Zdinak has also found carboxy to be “brilliant” for baggy lower lids. The best results require six 20-minute sessions, at a cost of $250 each, and last about 6 to 12 months.

Scalpel-Free Sculpting
As of this writing, Voluma has yet to be FDA-approved, but the enthusiasm for this filler can be heard from across the Atlantic. “It has completely changed my practice,” says Hervé Raspaldo, a facial plastic surgeon in Cannes, France, and a consultant for Allergan, the company that manufactures Voluma. Created by the same French lab that invented Juvéderm, Voluma, which is thicker than its forerunner, can be injected under the muscle layer and massaged into the desired shape—offering a scalpel-free way to attain a stronger chin or jaw line or more defined cheekbones. “If you tried this with previous fillers, you would have gotten big lumps. But Voluma doesn’t move,” says ­Raspaldo, who performs such transformations in a rather astounding 5 to 15 minutes. The results last about 18 months.

Good Fat
It almost sounds too easy: Take fat from where you don’t want it and inject it where you do. Once considered a fringe technique, fat grafting is becoming an increasingly viable option with the advent of more-precise instrumentation and a better understanding of fat-cell biology. In Boston, the plastic surgeon Daniel Del Vecchio harvests fat cells from a patient’s thighs, knees, and belly and uses them to enlarge or round out breasts. A typical procedure takes one to two hours and costs around $10,000.

In expert hands, fat—usually softer and more fluid than ­fillers—can also brighten the thin skin around the eyes. An injection not only smooths wrinkles and fills hollows but also acts as a barrier between skin and underlying facial muscles and blood vessels, hiding dark circles, says the New York plastic surgeon Sydney Coleman. What’s more, researchers suspect that the stem cells in fat can actually promote the production of collagen and elastin—and therefore eventually improve the quality of the skin. A session for the lower lids takes about 90 minutes and costs from $5,000 to $10,000.

Complications can arise, however—often due to overzealous injecting. When this occurs, little divots emerge where a dearth of oxygen has caused the fat cells to die. “You can’t do fat grafting casually,” cautions Coleman, who uses tiny increments and as many as 50 passes to complete a procedure around the eye.

Stimulus Package
Despite its name, LIPO-102 isn’t liposuction at all. Instead, the promising—but not yet FDA-approved—procedure targets and stimulates tissue metabolism to reduce fat. Currently, technicians are zeroing in on the precise dose needed to melt away belly fat in average-weight individuals. “It’s a tiny needle, the medicine doesn’t sting, and there’s little bruising,” says Long Island, New York, dermatologist Marina Peredo, who has been involved in product trials. In one study, patients lost up to 1.2 inches after eight weekly sessions, each consisting of about 20 shots around the navel. It may be a couple of years before the FDA okays LIPO-102 for the belly, but once that happens, doctors are sure to be using the needle to address stubborn chin fat and saddlebags too. 

This article is courtesy of WMagazine.

Medical negligence case study: Denise Hendry

In 2002, Denise Hendry underwent liposuction surgery. During the procedure, the doctor perforated her bowel nine times. The wife of Premiere League player Colin Hendry was left on life support with an infection, a failing kidney, and a collapsed lung. Seven years and multiple surgeries later, Denise’s weakened body succumbed to meningitis.

Now her daughter Rheagan Hendry is asking Parliament for stricter guidelines on cosmetic surgeries in the UK. “I don’t believe my mother died for nothing,” she said in a statement. “I’m fighting on her behalf.”

Rheagan created the Denise Hendry Foundation in 2011 to provide support and assistance to Britons who are victims of medical negligence. Her foundation allows patients to receive emotional advice as well as consultations for negligence claims and compensation.

Though procedures like liposuction are considered to be safe and routine by many, there are risks involved. Numbness, burns, blood clots, and organ failure are all potential complications of liposuction.

Cosmetic surgery negligence claims are on the rise as increasing numbers of Britons choose to have cosmetic surgery. The industry is largely unregulated, allowing unqualified providers to offer services to the public.

“When my mother had liposuction she thought it was safe,” said Rheagan. “Cosmetic surgery was deemed to be a quick fix, like going to get your hair done, but it clearly isn’t. If she had known the real dangers she’d never have had the operation.”

Rheagan Hendry is hoping to help educate the public and reform the industry. She created an online petition asking that the age of consent for voluntary cosmetic surgery be raised to twenty-one. The petition also asks for tighter eligibility on the criteria for some surgeries. 
 
“I know dad’s proud of what I am doing and I am sure mum would be too,” she said. “I won’t stop fighting until I’ve got justice for her.”

Compensation claims for negligence in cosmetic surgery

More and more people are now opting to have some form of cosmetic surgery done, and what was at one point considered to be radical is now considered to be a fairly common and standard procedure. 

There are loads of different types of cosmetic surgery and whilst it is true that with the developments and advancements in the technology that is being used it is becoming safer, there is still always a risk when you undergo surgery of any kind. As well as the risks that are health related and come naturally, there is always the constant danger of human error or to put it into legal terms, surgical negligence.

What is surgical negligence?

Surgical negligence is when the person performing the procedure makes a mistake that shouldn’t have been made by a competent doctor. This could result in various kinds of damage, from pain all the way to death. It can also include things such as equipment being left inside the body whilst you are undergoing surgery to further injury to other parts of the body. If you or someone you know has had cosmetic surgery that has gone wrong due to avoidable complications, then it should be considered making a claim for compensation. 

This is not something that you want to jump into, as the process can be long and gruelling, especially with more complex cases. A good personal injury solicitor can certainly help and if you are wondering about the next step to take, it could be worth getting hold of one. 

Personal injury firms often provide free no obligation consultations, so you can at least find out where you stand in terms of the law and whether you have enough evidence for your case to be considered a strong one that is worth pursuing.

Hack plastic surgeon Oleg Davie faces murder rap for performing liposuction on heart transplant patient

Davie, 51, was indicted on manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges for operating on Isel Pineda in last May, knowing she had a heart transplant and was on anti-rejection drugs, said Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes.

A plastic surgeon was charged Thursday with causing a former model's death by liposuction.

Oleg Davie, 51, pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges for operating on Isel Pineda in May of last year — even though she'd previously had a heart transplant and was on anti-rejection medication.

Pineda, 51, who was described by ex-husband Jeffrey Mayer as a "beautiful, stunning" person, suffered from heart disease and underwent heart transplant surgery in 2004. The procedure was performed by TV’S famed Dr. Mehmet Oz.

"She enjoyed life every day before the heart transplant, and treasured it even more afterwards because she knew she'd been given a second chance," recalled her brother, Marni Pineda.

But before heading off on a planned vacation last year, Pineda felt unhappy with her appearance and decided she wanted to have liposuction done on her thighs. Davie agreed to perform the procedure, even though her cardiologist noted she had "no discernible body fat" when he examined her earlier that year, said Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes.

Pineda collapsed in Davies' office after the outpatient procedure, and was rushed to Coney Island Hospital, where she was pronounced dead from a heart attack just hours after the procedure.

"Doctors are well aware of the fact that they are discouraged from performing liposuction and similar procedures on patients with heart disease," said Hynes, noting that Davie didn't even bother to reach out to Pineda's cardiologist. "It is shameful that a medical professional would disregard his patient's safety, putting her in serious danger."

The Ukrainian doctor — who'd had a history of negligence —  then compounded his problems by claiming Pineda never told him about her operation, officials said.

"Any medical professional would clearly know if a patient has previously had heart transplant surgery because of the obvious scar on the chest," Hynes said.

Pineda had also listed the heart operation and her medications on a medical history form she gave the doctor, but to "further hide his illegal activity," Davie doctored the documents to make it appear that she hadn't, Hynes said.

"All references to the heart transplant and the medications were eradicated," Hynes said.

The scheme backfired when an original version of the form was later found in Pineda's purse. Hynes called the forgery a "smoking gun" because it showed Davie's "consciousness of guilt."

Davie's lawyer, James DiPietro, said Pineda's death was "clearly a tragedy, but it was not criminal."
On the alleged forgery of Isel Pineda's medical assessment, crucial information was left off relating to her heart condition.

He said Davie had performed "smart lipo" using a local anesthetic, and that according to his medical experts, she had a bad reaction to the procedure that was unrelated to the transplant. He also said her heart was enlarged. "This could have happened to anyone," he said. "The transplant didn't place her at more or less risk."

Asked about the allegedly forged documents, DiPietro said, "mistakes might have been made" and "panic might have set in," but he would deal with those matters in court.

Davie, who faces up to 34 years in prison if convicted, was released on a $175,000 bail. He declined comment after his arraignment. He surrendered his medical license after the incident last year.

Mayer, who said he'd still been best friends with Pineda despite their divorce years earlier, said what Davie did was "deplorable" and should be a warning to other women contemplating the "simple" procedure.

"I'm very happy to see justice being served," he said.

 This article is courtesy of New York Daily News.

Cosmetic surgery cowboys: I caught flesh-eating bug during breast operation, and was refused compensation from foreign surgeon

When Bernadette Cini decided to have a breast reduction after years of deliberation, she opted for a surgeon at the Harley Medical Group –  a prestigious, reputable firm. Or so she thought.

Her G-cup breasts caused significant back pain and she may have qualified for NHS treatment but chose to go private for this highly complex operation.

‘I wanted the best possible result,’ says the 62-year-old.

‘The surgeon Hicham Mouallem assured me he used a technique that minimised scarring and retained sensitivity to the nipples, which could be lost. So I decided to go ahead.’

It was a decision she would bitterly regret. In the days after her £5,700 surgery in 2006, the mother of two from Croydon, Surrey, developed a rampant infection in her breasts.

It was ‘flesh-eating’ necrosis, caused by pseudomonas, bacteria normally found in soil.

Over the course of a year, she had five operations to cut away diseased tissue and repair her breasts.

The constant agony she was in meant Bernadette was unable to go on working as a nanny and eventually had to give up her job completely.

‘Everything became a horrible blur of hospitals, operations and pain,’ she recalls.

But when Bernadette sought compensation, Harley Medical Group claimed they were only ‘agents’ so not responsible, and that the surgeon had returned to Italy.

Mouallem was a ‘Fifo’ – a ‘fly in, fly out’ foreign surgeon – and had no insurance in the UK. Although all doctors treating patients in Britain must be registered by law with the GMC, they do not have to have insurance in this country.

There are no official figures on the number of Fifos operating in the UK, but the last estimate, from a report by the then Healthcare Commission in 2005, stated that two-thirds of surgeons may be from abroad. If they are uninsured, patients who suffer horrific complications struggle to obtain compensation.

It took Bernadette months to track down Mouallem and two years to build a case against him. He admitted he had not warned Bernadette of her heightened risk of infection, due to her weight, and agreed to pay her £20,000 in an out-of-court settlement, barely enough to cover her lost earnings.

Recalling the initial operation at the Highgate Hospital, Bernadette says she first noticed something was not quite right when she woke up after surgery. A drain inserted into her newly-reduced left  breast to remove excess fluid was not working.

Mouallem checked Bernadette that evening. She recalls: ‘He just squeezed the suction bag adding, “It’s OK,” and then left.

‘The next day when he returned and saw the drain was still not working he squeezed my breast with his hand, until fluid seemed to move into the drain.’ The next day, a different doctor discharged Bernadette and she went home.

She continues: ‘At first I put my discomfort down to the fact I’d had surgery. Two days later, though, my breast was feeling really tight and painful. I returned to the clinic, where I already had an appointment for a routine dressing change. By the time I went in, my breast felt like it was going to burst and was clearly very infected.

‘The nurse told us she had never seen anything like it before and that I needed to see the surgeon.

‘When he saw it, he started to try to syringe it while pushing down on the breast with the other hand. I was in agony.

‘He didn’t have gloves on and kept telling the nurse “get her to turn away” and “keep her quiet”, because I was screaming.’

A new dressing was applied and she was sent home.

A couple of days later she was again in pain and feeling extremely weak. When her partner contacted the clinic, Bernadette was amazed to discover Mouallem was no longer in the UK.

She was sent to see another Harley Medical Group surgeon, who delivered the devastating news that she had a severe infection and arranged for re-admission to the Highgate.

Bernadette was given antibiotics but the bug spread into the other breast. ‘It was horrifying. There was so much discharge that it would weep through a new dressing and eventually I had to re-do the dressing myself.’

For the next six weeks she was in and out of the hospital but nothing stopped the infection. It was only after she demanded a meeting with the hospital director that she was referred to another specialist, Charles Nduka.

‘He was brilliant, but he had to cut a huge amount of tissue out in order to stop the infection. I’m lucky that I still look relatively normal, with a small scar underneath both breasts.

‘I had hoped that having a breast reduction would allow me to start doing more exercise and get slim. But being so ill and immobile led me to put on weight. Mouallem treated me like something on a conveyor belt.’

Mouallem, who now claims to have UK insurance, said earlier this year: ‘She was a fat lady. She had an infection, it was from the hospital, not from me. The blame gets put on me because it is easier for the company. It wasn’t like she was dying, it was an infection. It can happen with any surgery.’

This article is courtesy of the Daily Mail.

Woman left fighting for life after gastric bypass surgery went wrong is awarded £35,000 compensation

A woman who was left fighting for her life after gastric bypass surgery went wrong has been awarded £35,000.

Rachel Benefer, 28, from Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, spent two weeks in intensive care and needed two emergency operations after a surgeon failed to properly close a small incision.

She asked to have the gastric bypass operation after her weight increased to more than 19 stone, despite repeated attempts at dieting.

Miss Benefer's keyhole surgery to bypass part of her stomach was carried out on the NHS at Hull and East Riding Classic Hospital in 2007.

The operation initially appeared to be successful but the failure of the surgeon to properly close an incision led to the patient developing a hernia, which obstructed her small bowel and caused the stomach bypass to break down.

Miss Benefer developed acute peritonitis - an inflammation of the lining of the abdomen wall - and needed two further emergency operations to reduce the hernia and repair the original surgery.

She spent a total of five weeks in hospital, including 11 days on a ventilator, and also had to undergo a tracheotomy.

Miss Benefer sued Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust for compensation and was awarded a £35,000 out-of-court settlement.

Danielle Barney, medical negligence specialist with the Bridge McFarland law firm, said: "Our client later required further surgery to repair the hernia and she has been left with unsightly and distressing scars on her abdomen.

"She has also suffered flashbacks and mild depression.

"This was a very painful experience for her and one that left her unable to work for a time and with an increased risk of serious long-term health problems.

"The case highlights once again that a failure by medical staff to follow accepted procedures during even routine surgery can have devastating effects.

"I am delighted that Rachel will now have some compensation to help her put this very traumatic experience behind her." This article is courtesy of The Independent.

The cosmetic treatment industry is an ugly business

There's something grotesque in the business of selling beauty. Bruce Keogh's review into the regulation of the cosmetic treatment industry – covering implants, surgery, fillers, injections, and every other way of primping, plumping, shrinking and smoothing your face and body – reveals a world of hard sell for hard bodies. Loss-leading free consultations draw customers into clinics (and despite the fact that the industry offers invasive medical procedures, the review shows that it treats those in its care as customers, not patients), and multibuy offers put the decision to get silicon bags inserted in your chest or fat siphoned out of your thighs on a par with chucking an extra packet of chicken joints into your trolley during a Bogof offer.

And if your treatment doesn't work out quite the way it was sold? That, as they say, is tough titty: there's no clear legal responsibility for cosmetic practitioners to provide aftercare. During the PIP implant scandal, the Transform Cosmetic Surgery Group and the Hospital Group initially refused to pay for the removal of implants containing non-surgical grade silicon. Under pressure from the Department of Health and huge adverse publicity, they reversed that decision – but women were still left to pay for their own replacements.

If your supermarket chicken pieces are bad, the shop doesn't just take the bad pack back: it's also obliged by the Sale of Goods Act to replace or repair it. Yet the rules for surgical implants are apparently more lax. I can't even say the cosmetic surgery business treats women like meat, because actually it offers a lower standard of care to its patrons than your average butcher. And for decades, shamefully, this has been tolerated, with inadequate legislation allowing inadequate treatment to continue. Reading the report, the collective negligence of the industry sticks out like a bone in an eyeball (yes – one woman grew bone fragments in her eyes as a result of an experimental stem cell cosmetic procedure).

Slack regulation of advertising allows surgeries to use high-pressure tactics like time-limited offers while minimising the "cutting you open, putting something inside you" aspect of their procedures. There's no specialist register of cosmetic surgeons – and amazingly, the title "surgeon" isn't even protected, meaning that practitioners may use it while having no surgical expertise. Private providers currently aren't required to perform a clinical audit, and data collection is so sloppy and vague, we don't even have a figure for how many procedures are performed each year. Oh, and consent for your own personal slicing and dicing can be obtained with a single signature in a meeting with a sales rep.

The whole industry starts to look like a nightmarish, tentacled beast stretching secretively through clinics and salons, invading bodies and injecting its poisons, and the people who are undergoing these treatments are often those who should have a particular claim on protection. Another thing the cosmetic surgery industry doesn't have is a standardised psychological assessment for those seeking treatment: those giving evidence to Keogh felt that enough was already done to pick up potential patients with body dysmorphia or personality disorder, but isn't it somewhat remarkable that we accept the pursuit of radical, appearance-altering surgery as rational until proved otherwise?

There's a sorry lack of longitudinal research on the psychology of those who seek and have cosmetic surgery (another example of the industry's commitment to high standards of medical evidence and patient care), but some of what is known is worrying. Some studies have found an increased risk of suicide among women with breast implants – not necessarily suggesting that implants cause suicide, but perhaps that women who have implants are more likely to be pre-disposed to suicide. And while there's limited evidence that plastic surgery creates a short-term improvement in satisfaction with the relevant body part, there's no evidence that it's actually the best therapy for unhappiness about the way you look.

The cosmetic surgery industry is based on telling women (and increasingly men, though they're still in the minority of patients) that they could have better, happier lives if only they'd make themselves look a bit more perfect. As an individual decision, everyone has the right to do as they wish with their own body within reasonable protections; as the basis for an industry, with advertising designed to show up your flaws and credit agreements to help you pay for their remedy, it's repugnant. The Keogh review shows how much the cosmetic interventions industry needs to do to fix up its face, but its ugliness runs way below the surface.

This is courtesy of theguardian.

Brazilian model dies after liposuction operation

A Brazilian model and actress died on the operating table during a liposuction surgery.
 
Police are investigating the fatal haemorrhage suffer by Pamela Baris do Nascimento, 27, following claims that her liver could have been punctured during the procedure on October 19.

It was the third time the actress, who was also studying biomedicine, had undergone liposuction.

Concerns were also raised when it emerged that her death at the Green Hill Hospital in Sao Paulo was not registered until 10 days later.

Miss Nascimento’s aunt reported the case to police in Ipiranga, in the city’s Zona Sul.

The lawyer acting for the family told Brazilian press he believed Miss Nascimento’s death may have been caused by medical malpractice.

He added Júlio César Yoshimura, the surgeon who carried out the operation, could face manslaughter charges.

Officers investigating the death will ask authorities to exhume her body for tests.

Miss Nascimento, who was originally from Santa Catarina in southern Brazil, had been living in Sao Paulo. She was raised by her aunt after her mother died when she was six.

The presenter had appeared on TV programmes including Brazilian variety show O Melhor do Brasil.

Evandro Luiz de Melo Lemos, the officer responsible for the case, said: “Everything suggests that the procedure was correct. But normally, in the case of an accident, it should have been reported to the police.”

In a statement, the hospital said it had launched an internal inquiry.

It said Dr Yoshimuro was licensed to practise and had rented operating rooms at the private clinic.

“The hospital provided all the necessary resources for the adequate treatment of Pamela Baris Nascimento. However, it is with great sadness that this occurred,” the statement said.

A spokesman at Dr Yoshimuro’s office declined to comment this morning and said no further information was available.

This article is courtesy of The Telegraph.