Case Analysis of Medical Dispute About plastic Surgery

Choi, Min; Sun, Hook

Abstract

PURPOSE: Recently medical dispute about plastic surgery is increasing rapidly as a result of growing surgery itself due to high interest in appearance and advertisement of plastic surgery. We wanted to find a way to prevent similar medical accident by making alternative plan of plastic surgery through case analysis of medical dispute.
METHODS
161 cases of plastic surgery asked for aid at Korea Consumer Agency and 41 cases judged at the court were surveyed. Items such as gender, location and type of hospital, goal and type of operation, making operation agreement or not, type of damage, result of process, result of lawsuit were studied from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2006.
RESULTS
Medical doctor have to explain about symptoms of disease, method of treatment, possibility of complication, prognosis to patients before therapy so they can make decision if they take operation by doctor or not. On this survey, among the patients who underwent re-operation or had complication, 88.1% (96 from 109 cases) of them didn't get enough explanation about possibility of complication before surgery. They brought lawsuit insisting they would not undergo operation if they got enough explanation about possibility of complication and result of operation before surgery.
CONCLUSION
It is advisable that doctor must observe the duty of explanation before surgery and respect the right to decide of patient, make operation agreement and put down concrete progress note and store the pre and post operative photo to avoid medical accident. It is also needed to have guideline of therapy, Code of ethics, organization which deals with medical dispute, reconsideration of law to control that.