AESTHETIC SURGERY AND CIVIL LIABILITY OF THE SURGEON Cover Image

ЕСТЕТСКА ОПЕРАЦИЈА И ГРАЂАНСКА ОДГОВОРНОСТ ОПЕРАТОРА
AESTHETIC SURGERY AND CIVIL LIABILITY OF THE SURGEON

Author(s): Jakov Radišić
Subject(s): Health and medicine and law
Published by: Правни факултет Универзитета у Београду
Keywords: Aesthetic surgery; Patient consent; Surgeon liability;

Summary/Abstract: The legitimacy of aesthetic or cosmetic surgery is not questioned nowadays. Patient consent may justify both therapeutic and non-therapeutic treatment. However, there is a difference between the two. Consenting to a therapeutic treatment is normally prompted by state of emergency i.e. by the urgent needs of a patient, while consenting to an aesthetic surgery usually stems from a personal wish to look or appear better. A person who is ill or unwell is generally prepared to consent to a certain damage or harm to health, as long as it is less taxing or demanding than the existing condition. On the other hand, and as a rule, a client who is willing to undergo aesthetic surgery is not prepared to suffer bodily injury or harm to health for the purposes of looking or appearing better. This is why it is particularly important that a person undergoing aesthetic, nontherapeutic treatment acquires complete and accurate information with respect to the prospects, chances and risks of the cosmetic surgery. Surgeon should inform this kind of patient (client) minutely and in more details, in a manner adjusted to the patient’s needs and ability of understanding. The usual restrictions to the extent and manner a patient should be informed prior to therapeutic medical examination or treatment, do not apply in case of aesthetic surgery.

  • Issue Year: 60/2012
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 5-25
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: Serbian