Laparoscopy or keyhole surgery procedures have substantially increased over recent years however there has also been a dramatic rise in laparoscopy medical negligence compensation claims made by solicitors in UK. There are thousands of deaths every year in UK as a result of medical mistakes and a large proportion of those occur following laparoscopy surgery. The majority of complications of laparoscopy occur on initial surgical entry, and most of the claims concern damage to the bowel, bladder and ureters, injuries to blood vessels and through the use of electrosurgery to coagulate, cut and dissect. The main cause of these laparoscopy problems relates to the surgeon making a misjudgment or a mistake which may be as a result of inadequate training, lack of aptitude or inexperience in that particular procedure.
Laparoscopy involves making small incisions to insert a miniaturised camera into the body which then transmits to television screens in the operating theatre and to insert the tools to perform the surgery. The first incisions and insertion of equipment is the time of greatest risk of unintended physical damage and surgeons are required to follow established protocols which should reduce the risk of accidental injury subject to unusual anatomy.
Cosmetic Surgery Medical Negligence
A cosmetic surgery solicitor will define medical negligence as “treatment that is contrary to accepted medical standards and which produces injurious results in the patient.” Legal action is usually based on the doctrine of “negligence” and the cause of action is usually the failure of the doctor to exercise a reasonable degree of skill, learning, care and treatment ordinarily possessed by others in the medical profession. All doctors are expected to keep up with the latest developments in their particular field and the standards required are those of the specialty as a whole, commonly referred to as the “standard of care.”
Cosmetic surgery carried out by qualified and experienced specialists is more predictable than ever before however there are risks and it is still a serious undertaking. The medical profession which includes doctors, nurses and technicians usually provides a caring service with a high standard of excellence for their patients however there are occasions when things go wrong and where personal injury has been caused or contributed to by a breach of the duty of care then a cosmetic surgery solicitor may be able to recover financial compensation for medical negligence.
Prior to the operation you should have been consulted at length by the surgeon. That consultation should have included review of your medical and surgical history and a comprehensive discussion of your desired goals and expectations. The surgical procedure and possible alternatives should have been discussed in detail together with all possible risks and complications. The surgeon should have made you aware of what to expect before, during and after the surgery and should have fully explained which particular technique was to be chosen and why. Failure to carry out detailed enquiries and to advise accordingly may be sufficient grounds alone for a medical negligence solicitor to take legal action for the recovery of damages.
