Gault v. Norwood: 2nd largest medical malpractice verdict in history. Famous heart surgeon William Norwood performed an unauthorized surgical procedure on Stephen Gault, rendering him severely brain damaged and in permanent need of lifelong care. Norwood operated on a healthy baby's narrow aorta, but performed an unnecessary procedure, stopping the baby's heart and blood flow. Cooling the body too quickly caused irreversible brain damage, leaving the child unable to walk, talk, or care for himself. The $55 million verdict allowed Gault's family to provide him the care he needed.
Plastic surgery, reconstructive surgery, or cosmetic surgery is supposed to make you look and feel better after it is performed. However, that is not always the case. There are times when the surgeons, anesthesiologists, or nurses make terrible mistakes and you or a loved one are left with scarring, disfigurement, blood clots, infections, or even death.
If this happened to you or a family member, you may be entitled to compensation from your plastic surgeon or responsible parties. Turn to The Beasley Firm-founded in 1958, our Philadelphia plastic surgery malpractice lawyers have spent decades developing malpractice cases. We rely on the insight of our trained doctors and nurses on staff, who have more than 50 combined years of experience in patient care. Our experience makes us ideally suited to handling plastic surgery malpractice cases throughout Pennsylvania and the surrounding states.
Plastic surgery malpractice victims choose us because:
Call The Beasley Firm at (215) 866-2424 for a free legal consultation.
Plastic surgeries, cosmetic surgeries, or reconstructive surgeries are performed for a variety of different reasons. They may be used to repair a congenital or birth defect, reconstruct a body part after cancer removal, or for aesthetic purposes.
Some of the more common reconstructive or plastic surgeries are:
Every surgical procedure, especially plastic or reconstructive surgery, can carry certain risks. It is the surgeon's responsibility to make sure that the patient is aware of all the risks prior to performing the surgery. Some common risks are bleeding, infection, scarring, contractures, blood clots, pneumonia, medications reactions, and scar tissue formation. Regardless of how minor or major the risks are, it is the surgeon's responsibility to tell the patient so an informed decision can be made prior to consenting to any surgical procedure. In addition to the risks mentioned above, there are other risks depending on the type of plastic surgery that is going to be performed.
The following are additional problems that could occur during surgery:
An 18-year-old woman was killed as a result of her plastic surgeon's negligence. The surgeon, who accidentally ruptured a blood vessel in his teenage patient's neck during a liposuction procedure, refused to allow her mother to see her or to admit her to a local hospital. When an ambulance finally arrived hours later, the young woman was already the victim of severe respiratory distress.
Our casework for the family involved nearly $400,000 in investigation expenses and 10,000 pages of documents, all to develop the wrongful death case as strongly as possible. In the end, we successfully proved the negligence of the surgeon and the anesthesiologist involved in the operation that robbed our clients of their daughter. The $20 million verdict was later upheld in the Pennsylvania Superior Court, who found our arguments to be both truthful and well-argued.
Since 1958, our Philadelphia plastic surgery lawyers have been successfully litigating plastic, cosmetic, or reconstructive surgery malpractice cases with documented results.
Our results have allowed us to receive numerous honors and awards, including:
If you or a loved one has been injured, please contact one of our experienced Philadelphia plastic surgery malpractice attorneys at (215) 866-2424.
The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.