A 38-year old husband and father of two has filed a lawsuit against a Jacksonville area health facility, primary care physician, and plastic surgeon after his 39-year old wife passed away after suffering a blood clot in her lung. According to the Florida Times-Union, David Boon believes that his wife died as the result of negligence committed by doctors Gary Glicksteen and Daniel Calloway.
Boon’s wife, Brooke, had undergone an increasingly popular surgery for females, known as a “Mommy Makeover”. Technically, this procedure involves a variety of cosmetic surgeries that are conducted more for emotional purposes than any actual health benefits. As giving birth can take its toll on a woman’s body – especially after multiple times – many mothers resort to minor cosmetic procedures to improve their physical appearances and ultimately their self-confidence. These procedures can include tummy tucks, liposuction, breast augmentations.
David and his attorney have asserted that Glicksteen and Calloway failed to inform Brooke to stop taking her birth control medication before she underwent corrective surgery, despite knowing that she was actively still using it. Birth control should not be administered or taken within a month of a surgical procedure, and a woman should not resume using it until at least two weeks after the surgery, otherwise the patient could be subject to significant side effects, including blood clotting.
In 2010, more than 1.6 million Americans underwent some form of cosmetic procedure; however, at least 1 in approximately 298 procedures may result in medical malpractice. Cosmetic surgery can lead to a number of post-procedural complications, including excessive scarring, infection, numbness, misshapen breasts, internal bleeding, organ penetration, swelling, hypersensitivity, and skin-pleating, among others.
Another important factor in selecting a cosmetic procedure is vetting the proper physician. As plastic surgery has become more commonplace and widespread, the options have become cheaper and easier. This can lead to inexperienced physicians making amateurish mistakes that can cause long-term sides effects, including wrongful death.