LEGAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF COSMETIC DOCTORS: MALPRACTICE AND COMPENSATION LAWSUITS

Legal Responsibilities of Cosmetic Surgeons Arising from Procedures They Perform:

Aesthetics encompasses everything that appeals to people's perception of beauty. However, beauty is a relative concept. This leads people to frequent cosmetic surgeons in an attempt to conform to the majority's perception of beauty. While modern technology allows people to achieve their desired face or body through cosmetic surgery, there are also overlooked aspects to these procedures. For example, the possibility of not achieving the desired appearance or complications during the operation.

Doctors are required to inform their patients in detail about the procedures to be performed, the results, and potential complications before any aesthetic procedures. If the patient agrees to the procedure after this information process, they must provide a written consent form. Procedures performed without the patient's consent can lead to legal problems and claims for compensation. Aesthetic doctors are obligated to exercise the care and diligence required by their profession. If doctors fail to exercise this care and diligence, and this causes harm to the patient, it constitutes malpractice. In such a case, the doctor may incur legal and financial liability.

The legal liability arising from procedures performed by cosmetic surgeons aims to protect patients' rights and ensure that healthcare services are provided in accordance with standards.

Fundamental Elements of Legal Responsibility:

1. Contractual Liability:
   • Patient-Doctor Contract: Aesthetic procedures are generally performed under a service contract between the patient and the doctor. This contract includes the doctor's commitment to providing the patient with a specific aesthetic result. Breach of the contract terms results in the doctor's contractual liability.
   • Information Obligation: The physician is obligated to fully and accurately inform the patient about the procedure, potential risks, side effects, and expected outcomes. Lack of or inaccurate information may be considered a contractual liability.
2. Tort Liability:
   • Medical Malpractice: When a doctor fails to adhere to medical standards, exercise due diligence, or performs an incorrect procedure, it is considered medical malpractice. In such cases, the doctor is liable to compensate the patient for any damages incurred.
   • Complications and Unexpected Outcomes: Every cosmetic procedure involves certain risks. However, when these risks materialize, the doctor's liability depends on whether the procedure was performed with due diligence and in accordance with these risks. If unexpected complications result from the doctor's negligence, legal liability arises.
3. Material and Non-Material Compensation:
   • Financial Compensation: If the patient's assets have decreased (e.g., additional treatment costs, loss of income), the doctor is obligated to compensate for these losses through financial compensation.
   • Moral Damages: Errors resulting from cosmetic procedures can harm a patient's physical and psychological integrity. This situation may give rise to a claim for moral damages due to the emotional distress and stress experienced by the patient.
4. Criminal Liability:
   • Under the Turkish Penal Code: The Turkish Penal Code stipulates criminal liability in cases where a person's life, health, or bodily integrity is harmed as a result of faulty medical procedures. In this context, cosmetic surgeons may face criminal sanctions for their faulty practices.
5. Professional Liability Insurance:
   • Cosmetic surgeons and doctors can ensure that compensation payments to patients in case of potential malpractice are covered by professional liability insurance.

Proof of Liability:

To determine the legal responsibility of a cosmetic surgeon, the patient must prove that harm occurred and that this harm resulted from the surgeon's faulty or negligent intervention. Expert reports, witness statements, and medical records play a crucial role in this process.

Legal Process:

1. Filing a Lawsuit: If a patient suffers harm, they can initiate legal proceedings to claim compensation. These cases are generally heard in civil courts.
2. Expert Review: The court typically obtains a report from a medical expert to assess whether the doctor's intervention met medical standards.
3. Decision: The court will make its decision based on the evidence obtained and expert reports. If the doctor is found at fault, they may be liable to pay material and/or moral damages.

The legal responsibility of cosmetic surgeons is of great importance in terms of protecting patient rights and ensuring the quality of medical services. It is critical for doctors to fulfill their legal responsibilities by adhering to medical standards in every procedure they perform and by providing accurate information to their patients.

 

Malpractice:

Malpractice occurs when a doctor fails to exercise the necessary care and diligence in practicing their profession, or causes harm to a patient through erroneous practice. For malpractice to be legally recognized, the patient must have suffered harm as a result of the doctor's faulty or negligent conduct. Malpractice lawsuits mostly aim to compensate patients for the damages they have suffered, covering treatment costs, loss of income due to inability to work, and hardship. If the patient dies or suffers serious injury as a result of the erroneous practice, the doctor may be held criminally liable.

 Malpractice occurs particularly as a result of misdiagnosis, incorrect treatment, inadequate care, or errors in medical procedures, and these situations can lead to a patient's deterioration in health, permanent damage, or death.

Elements of Malpractice:

1. Breach of Duty: This refers to a situation where a healthcare professional fails to act in accordance with professional standards or to exercise due diligence. For example, a doctor making a wrong diagnosis or administering wrong treatment without adequately examining the patient.
2. Damage: For a malpractice claim to be valid, the patient must have suffered damage as a result of the negligence or error. This damage can be physical, psychological, or financial.
3. Causal Link: There must be a direct causal link between the harm suffered by the patient and the healthcare professional's malpractice. In other words, the patient's harm must have resulted directly from the doctor's faulty action.
4. Fault: The healthcare professional must have caused this harm through negligence (carelessness, inattention, lack of knowledge, etc.).

Types of Malpractice:

1. Diagnostic Errors: This refers to situations where a patient receives incorrect treatment or goes without treatment due to misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, or a complete lack of diagnosis.
2. Treatment Errors: Applying the wrong treatment method, failing to provide appropriate treatment, or making mistakes during treatment all fall under the scope of malpractice.
3. Surgical Errors: Mistakes made during surgery, such as operating on the wrong organ or leaving a foreign object behind during surgery, are considered surgical malpractice.
4. Medication Errors: Situations such as prescribing the wrong medication, administering the wrong dosage, or ignoring drug interactions also fall under the scope of malpractice.
5. Birth Errors: Errors made during childbirth, such as the failure to perform necessary interventions or harm to the mother or baby due to incorrect interventions, are considered birth malpractice.

Legal Responsibility:

When a patient is harmed as a result of malpractice, healthcare professionals may face legal liability. This liability generally arises in three ways:

1. Criminal Liability: Under the Turkish Penal Code, doctors or other healthcare professionals may face criminal penalties if their malpractice causes a patient's death or serious harm.
2. Financial Compensation: If a patient suffers direct financial loss (e.g., additional treatment costs, loss of earning capacity) due to malpractice, a compensation claim can be filed to recover these losses.
3. Non-pecuniary damages: Patients may claim non-pecuniary damages for physical suffering, psychological stress, and damage to reputation resulting from malpractice.

Malpractice Lawsuits:

Malpractice lawsuits are generally lengthy and complex processes. In such cases, the court often relies on expert medical reports to determine whether the healthcare professional acted in accordance with professional standards. The patient must prove that they suffered harm and that this harm resulted from the doctor's negligence.

Professional Liability Insurance:

Many healthcare professionals take out professional liability insurance to protect against potential malpractice cases. This insurance aims to cover compensation liabilities that may arise due to malpractice.

Malpractice refers to situations where patients suffer harm due to errors in medical practice, and it creates serious legal and professional responsibilities for healthcare professionals. Malpractice lawsuits aim to both protect patients' rights and improve the quality of healthcare services.

 

The Contractual Nature of Aesthetic Surgery:

Cosmetic surgeries can be the subject of various contracts under both private and public law. The contractual nature of these surgeries primarily consists of the following elements:

Service Contract: Cosmetic surgeries essentially constitute a service contract. This contract is made between a doctor or healthcare institution and the patient, and involves the doctor performing an intervention to achieve a specific aesthetic result.

Contract for Services: Cosmetic surgeries are generally considered contracts for services. The doctor is obligated to perform the promised result, and the patient is obligated to pay for the procedure. If the promised appearance is not achieved as a result of the cosmetic surgery, or if the achieved result does not meet the agreed-upon quality and specifications, this can be classified as a defective work under the contract for services. In such a case, the patient may request correction of the work, a reduction in the price, compensation for damages, or termination of the contract.

 

Law Student Intern Nursena İbanoğlu