Incomplete plastic surgery

I had a bypass in 2004 and went for an arm and thigh lift in 2007. Doctor did not do liposuction, which left fat deposits behind. Naturally, nothing was reimbursed from insurance. Ten years later, I am tired of the jello effect and went to another plastic surgeon who said that he does lipo first, then the lift, which makes more sense. Question........can I make a case against my first surgeon for not offering/performing lipo in the first place (I recall him saying that I "might" have to do a second process at a later date.....more like he would do lipo later and skunk me into a second lift) and/or can I have the second doctor submit a request to my insurance since the first doctor didn't do the right thing in the first place? Anybody?

It would be worth a try to see if this would be reconstructive if the first surgery was done incorrectly, that may cause it to be covered under your insurance. HOWEVER, I am sure there are some insurance pros on here who would be way ahead of me! Good luck!

You say "make a case", so in other words you want to know if you can sue your first doctor? Sure, you can, unless there's some sort of statute of limitations that you've passed in your area. Filing a lawsuit is easy, it's winning that can be hard. If you really want to pursue that option, talk to a malpractice attorney, many will give you a free consultation to see how "winnable" they think your case is. Personally, I doubt you'd recover anything, it sounds like you simply chose a doctor who has a different process than others and just didn't get results that you feel are satisfactory because of that. Keep in mind that, as the saying goes, I am not a lawyer so this is just my opinion.

Regarding insurance, most plastic surgeons don't work with insurance unless it's some type of reconstruction work, and again I don't think having your arms and thighs redone would qualify as "reconstruction." Since insurance companies don't generally cover plastics, my feeling is that you'd be out of luck here as well.

Sorry you're having these problems, and I wish I had more encouragement to offer regarding a solution.

Unless there was life changing disfigurement, there is generally no do-over with plastics because of a bad result.   It's one of the risks you take when you have private elective surgery.    I guarantee your plastic surgeon will say you were unrealistic about the outcome  ...

Sorry!

What insurance covers lipo ever?  How were your arms covered by insurance?  I have seen only a handful get arm surgery qualified.  I doubt you are gonna get anywhere with a lawsuit or whtever you are planning.

She said none of it was covered by insurance (yet wants insurance to cover a revision??).  I agree that the OP is SOL.

Lora

In order to win a malpractice lawsuit, the jury must be "shocked".  You chose a surgeon who does not do lipo first, so the jury will probably not be shocked that your outcome was different than that of a surgeon who does. 

If the first surgeon had promised lipo and then neglected to do it, you might have a change of recovering something. 

Nice try, but no.  You won't get anywhere with that.  Why would insurance pay to revise something they refused to pay for in the first place because it is cosmetic?!?

Why did you not ask him about lipo before you had the surgery done? Surely you knew there was still fat there (especially if there is enough fat that it will result in saggy skin if you have lipo done now!) so -- and I realize that this is in hindsight, but it might save someone else reading this from making the same mistake -- you should have been more proactive about asking questions about the outcome before the first surgery.  

I know a couple of people who were so anxious to get the excess skin removed that they ignored advice about waiting until their weight has settled, or who made decisions based on financial limitations, and then later wished they had done it differently. I'm not saying you did this,  but, again, for the benefit of others...

I admit that I did this to a limited extent.  I opted not to spend the extra money for  lipo on a small bit of fat in the "love handle" area when I had my tummy tuck.  Coming up with the extra money would have meant waiting about 2-3 months and I didn't want to wait, but I didn't really think about the ramifications of not spending the money.  I wasn't sure how much was fat and how much was skin, and I thought I wouldn't mind whatever small amount of fat was left... and since the surgeon only mentioned the lipo in passing, and just gave me the price quote with and without it, I really didn't give it enough thought.  Now I wish I had spent the money then because it would cost me twice as much now to have it done separately.

Unfortunately, this is a case of "live and learn"...

Lora

I'm sorry you did not get the outcome you were hoping for. I do not think this is a case you would win.

This is why choosing the right surgeon is so important.