When surgery leads to a bad result, the plaintiff almost always files suit for medical malpractice. I say “almost always” because a recent Massachusetts case has reminded me that occasionally a plaintiff can sue a surgeon for breach of contract, and that in such a case expert testimony is not only not required, but if offered would not be admissible. Based on the court’s opinion and the cases it cites, it appears to me that the occasion for a breach of contract action against a surgeon will arise almost exclusively in the context of elective cosmetic surgery.
