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Open Access
CC BY-NC 4.0 · Arch Plast Surg 2016; 43(05): 402-410
DOI: 10.5999/aps.2016.43.5.402
Original Article

Informed Consent as a Litigation Strategy in the Field of Aesthetic Surgery: An Analysis Based on Court Precedents

Authors

  • Bo Young Park 

    Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

  • Jungwoo Kwon 

    Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

  • So Ra Kang 

    Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

  • Seung Eun Hong 

    Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

We would like to sincerely and profusely thank all members of our staff at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital for their able guidance and support in completing this project.
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Background In an increasing number of lawsuits doctors lose, despite providing preoperative patient education, because of failure to prove informed consent. We analyzed judicial precedents associated with insufficient informed consent to identify judicial factors and trends related to aesthetic surgery medical litigation.

Methods We collected data from civil trials between 1995 and 2015 that were related to aesthetic surgery and resulted in findings of insufficient informed consent. Based on these data, we analyzed the lawsuits, including the distribution of surgeries, dissatisfactions, litigation expenses, and relationship to informed consent.

Results Cases were found involving the following types of surgery: facial rejuvenation (38 cases), facial contouring surgery (27 cases), mammoplasty (16 cases), blepharoplasty (29 cases), rhinoplasty (21 cases), body-contouring surgery (15 cases), and breast reconstruction (2 cases). Common reasons for postoperative dissatisfaction were deformities (22%), scars (17%), asymmetry (14%), and infections (6%). Most of the malpractice lawsuits occurred in Seoul (population 10 million people; 54% of total plastic surgeons) and in primary-level local clinics (113 cases, 82.5%). In cases in which only invalid informed consent was recognized, the average amount of consolation money was KRW 9,107,143 (USD 8438). In cases in which both violation of non-malfeasance and invalid informed consent were recognized, the average amount of consolation money was KRW 12,741,857 (USD 11,806), corresponding to 38.6% of the amount of the judgment.

Conclusions Surgeons should pay special attention to obtaining informed consent, because it is a double-edged sword; it has clinical purposes for doctors and patients but may also be a litigation strategy for lawyers.

Keywords

Informed consent - Malpractice - Esthetics - Legislation & jurisprudence


Publication History

Received: 11 April 2016

Accepted: 31 August 2016

Article published online:
20 April 2022

© 2016. The Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, permitting unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

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