£22,000 Settlement
Pryers helped Emily claim compensation following an operation to remove excess skin from her lip left her disfigured.
Initial Treatment
Emily attended her GP as she noticed there was an excess piece of skin hanging down from her top lip which covered her teeth when she smiled. The GP reassured her it was nothing sinister but Emily wanted it investigating as her employment involved public speaking and she was embarrassed by the sight of her smile.
Emily was referred to hospital and saw a consultant. It was noted that there was nothing sinister about the piece of skin, but it was noted that it could be removed if it was affecting her. Emily opted to have an operation to remove the piece of skin.
Operation to Remove Excess Skin
During the operation, the surgeon removed too much tissue from Emily’s top lip on the right side. This meant that the right side of her top lip did not look as full as the left side and did not meet the bottom lip on the right side, but it did on the left side. This resulted in people always being able to see her teeth through the gap on the right side.
Emily was immediately aware of this and raised it with the surgeon after the procedure. She was simply told that the swelling was causing the gap and once it had gone down the gap would reduce.
Further Treatment and Investigations
Over the following year, Emily had a number of follow up appointments and was advised to massage the lip daily to help break down the scar tissue in the lip. Emily did this on a daily basis but it made no difference.
Eventually, Emily was advised that she could have further corrective surgery to either put more tissue back into the right side of the lip or to have some tissue removed from the left side of the lip, in an attempt to even out the appearance of the top lip. Emily was happy to have further surgery but this was never arranged by the Trust. Emily has been left with this permanent disfigurement ever since.
Pryers Help Emily get Compensation
Emily decided to make a medical negligence claim as the trust were no longer dealing with her problem. Emily brought her case to Pryers as she was aware that Pryers specialise in these kinds of cases.
Detailed and thorough investigations were carried out and a settlement of £22,000 was secured for Emily to compensate her for the physical pain and discomfort and psychological injury she received as a result of the poorly carried out surgery, the compensation also provided an amount for the additional surgery Emily would need if she decided to have corrective surgery in the future.
