Could you sue your surgeon if he/she promises excision, but doesn't?

[cody sockeye]

Just wondering.

[merle]

I am sure that you could find a lawyer to take the case. You would have to have in writing that he was going to do it. I would think. Seems like a waste of time and money for the most part.

Merle

[cody sockeye]

I ask because I read up on a lot of cases where the surgeon says they will remove gland but don't... It just seems so wrong to promise something like that and not follow through, especially when your being paid to take care of it.

[manic91m9]

suing doctors can be problematic for a number of reasons, one is if other doctors find out that you sued your doctor they will probably not perform surgery on you.

[skyhawk]

I think you would spend more on the suit than revision surgery. I agree it isn't right for the doc to say he will do something, and then not do it. And IF someone tried to sue, the doc would give some fancy medical explination why during the course of surgery he chose not to do the excision. It would be a no win situation for you. Plus I agree with the post above. Once you sue a doc, no other doc will do the revision.

[snuffy]

Do you have a contract with your plastic surgeon?  You should.  My contract spelled out what the fees would be for nominal, moderate, and extensive revision surgery.  The first thing you need to do is TALK to your plastic surgeon and tell him you are not happy with your results.  Tell him in a non confrontational way that you think you need your glands removed.  His response is when you decide whether or not to do a lawsuit.  If he agrees to remove your glands, but only for another full fee of 4-5 thousand dollars; then you definitely sue him for violating the contract.  (In truth, if you had a contract spelling out the fees for revision surgery he would never try to full bill you... he knows he would be in violation of the contract.  Your surgeon is smart.  He doesn't want to get sued and have his reputation smirched for violating a contract.)    If he agrees to do your revision for any of the stated revision fees, like making you pay for just the surgical supplies, then you can rest assured he's not trying to screw you.  He's not out for the money, when he operated on you the first time he was just being conservative; which is what you want.  It costs him more to give up his time doing your revision than more first time procedures.  This is the same thing that happened to me.  The first surgery I had turned out to just be lipo, although my surgeon had said in pre-op he might have to do an excision.  I went back for my 6 week checkup and I looked terrible.  The lipo had removed all the fat around the areola, but the gland looked like it was protruding even more now that the fat was gone.  I had to wait for my six month checkup to have the results of the lipo be final.  Then my surgeon instantly agreed I needed a gland removal and he charged me a nominal fee for supplies and everything is cool between us.  I'll tell you though, I was mad for the 6 months before that second surgery.  I had expected to look great for that summer and I looked even worse.  All the same things you're thinking went thru my head:  is he trying to screw me?  Is he going to try to violate the contract and charge me full fee for the gland removal?  And if he tries that, I don't have another 4K to spend and I don't have the money for a lawyer so now I'm stuck being "deformed" for the rest of my life from the first surgery.  I guess that was what scared me the most.  I looked terrible after the first surgery and I had no more money to spend.  But my fears were unfounded.  My surgeon took care of me and stood behind his work and now I look great!  Remember, your surgeon has a professional reputation to uphold.  If people see you with a terrible gyno job and find out how much you spent and your surgeon screwed you, he's essentially out of business.  He doesn't want that.  Tell him you are unhappy and tell him SPECIFICALLY you want your glands removed and I'm sure he'll do it.