Had surgery but no glands were removed

[alterboy554]

Just hard gyno surgery!!
At the consult the doc said he would be doing gland removal via incision at nipple and also lypo to remove fat via another incision on the sides of the chest.
I had to get a sonogram prior to the surgery as per the doc's orders. When I had that done, the nurse doing the sono said she didnt see any real gyno and that the gland was very small. I mentioned this to the doc too but he claimed there was some real gyno in there via touch..
After the surgery the doc said it ended up being only pseudo-gyno and he didnt need to remove any glands and it was fat removal only (so no nipple incision either..). I also didn't have to get the drains that I was told I'd needed.
My question is, seeing that the scope of the surgery was much less than originally anticipated, do I ask for some sort of partial refund?? It was about ~7.5k..

[Litlriki]

It's rare that I change up what I do with my procedure, as I remove gland in nearly all patients.  And while I charge extra for procedures that require skin excision, this is primarily because it adds a significant amount of time and complexity to the procedure.  For the basic operation, however, especially if I anticipate taking only a small gland, there will be little time difference involved, and there is an element of complexity that is removed, but you're also paying for the clinical judgement (i.e. your surgeon's skills in evaluating the tissues to determine that gland removal isn't necessary) required to make the decision. Finally, should you come back at some point and require removal of gland that was neglected at the time of surgery, one would presume that the surgeon would do that correction at a nominal fee to cover his or her expenses and nothing more. 

[alterboy554]

It's rare that I change up what I do with my procedure, as I remove gland in nearly all patients.  And while I charge extra for procedures that require skin excision, this is primarily because it adds a significant amount of time and complexity to the procedure.  For the basic operation, however, especially if I anticipate taking only a small gland, there will be little time difference involved, and there is an element of complexity that is removed, but you're also paying for the clinical judgement (i.e. your surgeon's skills in evaluating the tissues to determine that gland removal isn't necessary) required to make the decision. Finally, should you come back at some point and require removal of gland that was neglected at the time of surgery, one would presume that the surgeon would do that correction at a nominal fee to cover his or her expenses and nothing more.

Thank you for your feedback. Would it be fair of me to ask for a partial refund given the situation? What would you do in this situation?

[Litlriki]

I would not expect to give a refund unless that was discussed for some reason beforehand.  My point is that you're paying for treatment of the condition, not paying for the technique used.  If your condition was resolved with the technique used, even if it took 10 minutes less time because gland wasn't removed, presuming the outcome is good, you got the result based on your surgeons expertise, skill and judgement--which is what you're paying for. Had the surgeon encountered something that made the procedure longer and more complicated, he wouldn't have charged you more, nor should he have--Your contract was for treatment of the condition and as long as it's addressed and resolved, the contract wouldn't change.  I'm not sure what the other surgeons would do, but this is how we handle it in my office. 

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

I would totally echo Dr. Silverman's comments.  In my office, I would do the same.

Dr Jacobs