The Forensic Panel was consulted by the plaintiff in a California malpractice case claiming a plastic surgeon was sadistic in his surgical technique and was mutilating patients by design. The case introduced the unusual case of whether an undesired operative outcome, already a familiar intangible in cosmetic surgery, was something darker and had precedent. The case assumed more complexity with the surgeon’s history of termination from previous positions.
Careful review of the plastic surgeon’s complaint and professional history by our specialist, along with examination of the claimant’s medical history, resolved the mystery to the end of demonstrating that the surgeon was not a sadist, whatever his operative mistakes. The distinction between sloppy technique and indelible scarring could be drawn out through proper The Forensic Panel’s inquiry. The case was eventually dismissed.
