Bethany Platt’s storyline on Coronation Street highlights the dangers posed by negligently performed cosmetic surgery.
Botched cosmetic treatment is the latest story to be featured on Corrie.
!! Spoiler Alert!!
Coronation Street is heading into the land of negligent cosmetic surgery with Bethany Platt ending up with life-changing injuries from a botched liposuction.
The soap will be introducing a storyline that sees Bethany Platt travel to Türkiye for liposuction surgery. However, she later contracts sepsis as a result of medical negligence and this leaves her with a permanent stoma.
Bethany’s story all too clearly highlights how risky cosmetic operations can be; and how important it is to ensure you choose a highly capable and competent practice and surgeon to perform your surgery. And while the procedure in the show will be performed abroad, the complications and risks the storyline addresses could also occur at home in the UK.
We specialise in dealing with claims arising from botched cosmetic treatment, post surgical complications, and psychological harm caused by such procedures, so we are pleased to see Coronation Street shining a light on this topic.
Where cosmetic surgery negligence happens in the UK it is relatively straightforward to bring a compensation claim. However, where the surgery is performed aboard there are more hurdles to overcome and greater care should be taken.
Cosmetic surgery tourism is a growing industry, with an ever-increasing number of people travelling abroad for cheaper surgery. Having surgery abroad would mean that any negligence is likely to be governed by the laws of the country where it is performed. However, there may be ways in which our team can still help you recover compensation if you have been victim of sub-standard cosmetic surgery outside of England and Wales.
Cosmetic surgery is often wrongly perceived as being ‘lower risk’. However, complex cosmetic surgery can carry equal, or often greater, risk to patients, even though it may be elective.
There is also an increased risk of botched cosmetic treatment arising from the lack of adequate regulation in the cosmetic surgery sector. This means it often becomes about how good a salesman a surgeon is, instead of how competant, professional, or experienced they are. Sadly, we see cases where cosmetic surgeons have practiced whilst suspended, edited and controlled their reviews, and sold patients a surgery they never needed.
Regardless of the location for Bethany’s surgery, we would have recommended that she chose her surgeon carefully. You can read about the most important considerations in our guide on choosing a cosmetic surgeon.
When carrying out your own investigations into a surgeon or clinic, don’t be fooled by a nice shiny website or, in Bethany’s case, any kind of offer of payment or discount for advertising the procedure.
If you are considering surgery abroad, we would recommend that you:
- Look into the medical licensing in the relevant country. If they have a public register you can look up the surgeon, you intend to use and see whether they have any record.
- Speak to others who have been abroad or used the same surgeon. Reviews online cannot always be trusted. Bad reviews will never make it on to promotional websites, and not all countries have the same rules and regulations regarding paying for reviews or adverts, or the removal of bad reviews.
- Use AI to assist in understanding website information or reviews which are not in your native language. Sometimes crucial information can get lost in translation, and generic translation online can be less accurate.
- Research the facility and the other services provided in the cost of your surgery. Cosmetic surgery holidays often involve ‘luxury stays’ and private drivers to transport patients. You can ask for this information and look for reviews and comments on these services. If your surgeon sounds great but the hotel they suggest is poorly rated, it may give reason to question their authenticity.
- Be honest on your travel insurance, something Bethany did not do. Your travel insurance is there to protect you. As most people with a policy do not claim under it, it can seem like an unnecessary expense. But if things go wrong and you need help, or, as in Bethany’s case, major surgery, the costs will quickly rack up and you’ll be glad you had insurance.
Abroad or in the UK, make sure you understand what is involved. Research the most common complications of the procedure you want, and prepare questions about aftercare or your expectations. If a complication is featured on Google, then your surgeon should certainly be talking to you about it.
In the event that you do suffer botched cosmetic treatment, or you are unhappy with your result, keep a detailed record of your complaint and any responses you receive, including notes of any review meetings. We would recommend using the recording function on remote meeting platforms. If your complaint cannot be resolved, contact specialist solicitors who are experienced in dealing with cosmetic surgery claims.
If you find yourself in a similar situation to Bethany, then our team is here to help, even if your surgey was carried out abroad. We deal with the full spectrum of cosmetic surgeries, from breast augmentation and abdominoplasties, through to Botox and thread lifts. You can read about some of our notable successes on this website.