When patients sue plastic surgeons for battery, their cases frequently revolve around whether or not they had properly consented to the procedure(s) beforehand. To wit:

• “I only consented to reducing the size of the tip of my nose, but my surgeon also removed my nasal turbinates, and now I have discomfort when I breathe.”
• “My surgeon never told me that my filler injection could cause blindness…if he had, I never would have consented.”
• “I only authorized liposuction on my love handles, but during surgery, my doctor also performed lipo on my inner thighs.”

How is it possible for a patient and their surgeon to have such different understandings? Let’s look at it from both sides.

From the surgeon’s perspective. During pre-operative consultations, patients can be indecisive about the options offered by their surgeons, sometimes even vacillating or putting off final decisions until the day of surgery. If a patient insists at the last minute that a procedure be done or not done, sometimes consent forms aren’t updated. Other times, the patient has already been given a sedative and might not remember the conversation. Also, during surgery, a surgeon may find an emergency reason to perform an unconsented procedure — a situation that is permissible under law.

From the patient’s perspective. During pre-operative consultations, some cosmetic surgeons pressure patients to perform additional procedures without properly disclosing risks and possible outcomes. Also, some surgeons are so enamored by their own aesthetic sensibilities that they may decide to take a different approach while you are asleep on the table, believing that you will be pleased once you wake up. The most deplorable surgeons might even forge your consent during surgery or after the fact. And surgeons rarely cover all the potential complications that are listed in the fine print on their consent forms. Instead, they might boast that their complication rates are vanishingly small, then hand you a consent form with a long list of very serious potential risks related to your procedure(s).

The purpose of obtaining informed consent is for the patient to make an informed decision, to prevent surprise to the patient and, at the same time, to protect the physician from a potential lawsuit for damages if a risk or complication manifests itself as a result of the procedure.

Carolyn Oill, Esq.

Given all these potential conflicts, surgeons can mitigate risks by videotaping their consent discussions, and/or ensuring that any same-day changes are carefully explained, documented, and signed by the patient before they are prepped for surgery. Patients can mitigate risks by carefully reading their consent forms, paying close attention to the potential complications and discussing them with their surgeons. Patients should also request a copy of the consent they signed during their pre-op visit and snap a photo of this same form on the day of surgery.

For a more detailed discussion of informed consent, see my companion post here.

Nothing in this article should be relied on for medical or legal advice.

Copyright © 2025 by Monica Berlin