Preventing litigation in breast augmentation.

Abstract

To obtain patient satisfaction and thus avoid exposure to liability claims in breast augmentation, the plastic surgeon must take pains to exert not only his or her surgical competence but also his or her medicolegal awareness. The recent breast implant crisis should have taught everyone a lesson. The surgeon should remember that the American legal system has more to do with showmanship than with justice, fairness, science, or truth. It is unlikely that anyone beginning a 30- to 40-year career in aesthetic surgery will finish it without an encounter with the US legal system. Surgeons should supplement their CME with "DME" (defensive medicine expertise). Only by cultivating the absolutely crucial elements of patient rapport will surgeons be able to stay one step ahead of the plaintiff's attorney.