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Botched facelift results in |
A woman who sued a plastic surgeon alleging clinical negligence after he botched a facelift operation has been awarded almost £6.2 million in compensation.
Penny Johnson, a 49-year-old director of a financial and IT consultancy firm, claimed that Le Roux Fourie had "played God" by conducting an experimental procedure on her.
She stated that the surgery, which took place at the Bupa Methley Park hospital in Leeds, resulted in her ending up with severe nerve damage around her eye and cheek and destroyed her career.
Ms Johnson had originally petitioned for damages of over £50 million, which she said was the value of her half of the business she ran, which went bankrupt following the procedure.
Mr Fourie had admitted liability for the errors in the surgery, but his barrister denied that the procedure he performed was experimental and estimated Ms Johnson's business loss at closer to £9 million.
He added that claims by Ms Johnson that she had lost out on a series of lucrative contracts as a result of the damage were unrealistic.
In his ruling, Mr Justice Owen awarded her a sum of £6,190,884.92, the majority of which related to loss of earnings, both past and present.
A total of £80,000 was awarded for the facial disfigurement, pain and psychological consequences of the procedure.
During the hearing, she told the court: "My face is constantly contracting. I don't sleep and I have a permanent buzzing around my eye which can be so intense that I can't think about anything."
In his conclusion, the judge observed that the effect of the surgery for her business had been "devastating" and noted that, while she was in court, the facial twitching she suffered from was "virtually constant".
"She was formerly a confident, happy and outstandingly successful woman with a full and rewarding family and social life," Mr Justice Owen observed.
While her marriage to her husband survived, the claimant noted that she has since been a completely different person and is no longer able to be the wife to her husband that she was before the surgery, he continued.
Recently, the Medical Defence Union, which supported Mr Fourie during the case, revealed that claims of clinical negligence against GPs rose sharply last year, with 20 per cent more cases being reported than in 2009.
Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp, who heads the KCJ medical injury team, commented: "This is an interesting case because often plastic surgery cases are difficult to prove as they have a subjective element. Clearly here the damage was obvious and devastating.
"It also emphasises the real need to check the credentials of a plastic surgeon and the number of similar operations they have performed before agreeing to any procedure including Botox or other injections.
"There have been a number of reported adverse results from Botox treatment in the press recently and in the wrong hands these injections can also result in nerve damage and facial disfigurement. Calls for better regulation may follow and such regulation would be welcome."
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