Injury lawyer warns about plastic surgery risk
A recent study by consumer watchdog Which? has revealed that some plastic surgery clinics are subjecting perspective clients to hard sell techniques, with many now saying that some plastic surgeons are prioritising profit over patient care. This current problem is something Injury Lawyers are seeing up and down the country with one Manchester based lawyer claiming he is seeing this on a daily basis.
Personal injury lawyer Mike Saul outlined some of his concerns, saying that the rapid growth in the cosmetic surgery industry is responsible for many of the claims he deals with. "What I am seeing is extremely frightening," he said at his Manchester office. "People are innocently booking in for surgery, believing it will transform their lives for the better, and they're coming out maimed and disfigured, often for life."
Breast augmentation remains one of the more popular operations and it is very often dissatisfaction with this procedure that Mr Saul sees in his clients.
"A number of commercial clinics have sprung up, and are putting profit before patients, and commerce before ethics. The result is that operations are being rushed to fit more patients in, which means mistakes are more likely to be made. The industry also suffers from inadequate regulation," said Mr Saul.
"Our clients have experienced everything from asymmetry, nerve damage, inappropriate scars to cases in which breast implants have slid down from the breast and ended up over the stomach area," said Mr Saul. "I also frequently see significant injury - both physical and psychological - resulting from facelifts, eyelid work, tummy tucks, nose jobs and liposuction."
Mr Saul said many of his clients problems stem from the fact that they were mis sold the operation in the first place and not properly informed of the results of the procedure. He found this to be particularly true in the case of patients seeking to correct breast droopiness following childbirth.
"The procedure they are most likely to need is an uplift, possibly with implants too," he said. "The problem is that an uplift leaves visible scars, which clinics know will put patients off having surgery."
"To ensure a sale, they convince the patient that all they need is breast implants. It will never achieve the results the patient is looking for and the weight of the implant is likely to make the drooping even worse. In a legal sense, it is completely negligent."
The growth of the Plastic surgery industry has been massive in the last decade or so with many new 'cosmetic clinics' springing up everywhere offering the chance to have a procedure done in a couple of hours. It has become so popular that around 35,000 people go under the knife annually, with the industry raking in profits of around £1 billion each year.
The plain and simple truth is that for anyone considering plastic surgery going to a clinic and coming out the same day with a new look may lead to looking worse than before. Plastic surgery shouldn't be treated the same as going to get a new hair cut and any good plastic surgeon will warn potential patients of all the possible dangers involved as well as taking steps to ensure that the patient is ready for the surgery and that they will make a full and healthy recovery.
Updated on 4/23/2009