No Malpractice Insurance For Plastic Surgery in Florida

Doctors in Florida elect to “go bare” that is to have no insurance to cover potential malpractice claims. In most states, medical malpractice insurance is a must among practicing doctors that’s why people are commonly surprised why Florida surgeons do not follow this trend.

Plastic surgery is still not waning in popularity and the United States is still on top of the charts with regards to the number of procedures performed each year. Though the newest data are still under calculation for 2012, already surgeons are speculating on the rise of the number of people who have sought liposuction and reconstructive surgery in the past year.

In Florida, plastic surgeons go about their business even without malpractice insurance. This means that when you go to Florida for your liposuction and it ends up to be a botched operation, there is a small chance that neither your surgeon will answer for his wrongdoing nor will you be able to get a refund or compensation back.

A Florida lawyer,Spencer Aronfeld, who handles malpractices cases says that “Convincing a jury that a doctor has committed malpractice is not easy, but collecting from an uninsured doctor is almost impossible”.

When you are in a Florida plastic surgery clinic, you can easily spot a sign saying that they do not offer malpractice insurance pursuance of the Florida’s Medical Practice Statute §458.320(7) which states that:

“Under Florida law, doctors are generally required to carry medical malpractice insurance or otherwise demonstrate financial responsibility to cover potential claims for medical malpractice. However, certain part-time physicians who meet state requirements are exempt from the financial responsibility law. YOUR DOCTOR MEETS THESE REQUIREMENTS AND HAS DECIDED NOT TO CARRY MEDICAL MALPRACTICE INSURANCE. This notice is provided pursuant to Florida law.”

“Botox, the most popular non-surgical plastic surgery procedure, is the common choice among people who might have been scared off by the news of botched surgeries”, states Dr Fiala of Juverderm Orlando.

Liposuction alone has alerted the ASAPS for the continuing increasing number of fatalities that follow after the procedure. In a study published in the Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery on January 2000, it has been found out the mortality rate is 19.1 for every 100 000 patients. This data came from almost 1 000 surgeons who participated in the said survey. However, it is important to note that data from non-ABPS members were not gathered.