That time my surgeon went against the pre-op plan mid-surgery

I was in Dallas for a tummy tuck and lipo, and they'd agreed to do muscle repair too. Halfway through, the surgeon decided my diastasis wasn't bad enough and skipped the repair. Now I'm 6 months out and still have that pooch. How do you handle a surgeon changing the game plan without consent?

3 comments

3 Comments

max_hernandez2729d ago

You got the full price for a partial job? That's messed up. I had a similar thing happen with a hernia repair, told them I wanted mesh but they changed their mind when I was out cold. What worked for me was filing a formal complaint with the hospital's patient advocate and asking for my medical records to see exactly what they wrote down during surgery. Then I took those records to a different surgeon for a second opinion. Got them to write a letter saying the skipped repair was causing issues, and used that to fight for a refund on that part of the bill.

aaron_mitchell29d ago

Wait, you actually got them to admit they skipped part of the job? That's wild. Same thing happened to me with a knee scope - they promised to clean up some cartilage but just did a "diagnostic look" and charged me full price. When I complained they said "well we still explored the joint so it counts." I had to literally sit in the billing office with my post-op report and point to the line item that said "no debridement performed." The lady just shrugged and said she'd "note my concern." Ended up getting like 15% knocked off after three months of back and forth. Your hernia story gives me hope I should've pushed harder.

irisowens29d ago

Partial job at full price" sounds like getting charged for a filet mignon but served a hamburger.