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Q&A: If I am considering a medical malpractice lawsuit, should I go back to the same doctor for more treatment?
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March 13, 2024
Originally published August 1, 2010. Updated October 2026.
In June 2010, Managing Partner Noah Fardo obtained a six-figure settlement for a woman injured in a botched “awake” breast augmentation.
The doctor was an obstetrician/gynecologist, not a plastic surgeon. He attended a weekend seminar in California. He then advertised in the yellow pages and on the radio that he was fully qualified to perform breast augmentations.
Our client was his first case ever. She was left permanently disfigured, with scars three times the acceptable length and in the wrong locations.
In an awake breast augmentation, the patient is not put under general anesthesia. When this article was written, the procedure was a growing trend, and many of the doctors offering it were not plastic surgeons. Eye doctors, OB/GYNs and even dermatologists were performing these surgeries in their offices.
Why keep the patient awake? Many of these doctors did not have privileges to perform the surgery in a hospital or accredited surgery center. Without those privileges, general anesthesia was not an option, so the surgery was done in an office. Some of these doctors claimed the awake approach was safer because it avoided the risks of general anesthesia. In our view, that claim ignored the far bigger risk: a doctor without the training to do the surgery or to handle a complication.
At the time, news reports described an eye doctor in Atlanta who had to call 911 from his office during an awake breast augmentation because he could not handle a complication.
Call 412-802-6666, text 412-855-5511, email Noah Fardo at npf@pghfirm.com, or send us a message. The consultation is free.
Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different. There is no fee unless we obtain a monetary recovery. General information only, not legal advice.
