ABSTRACT
DEFINING AN ADVERSE EVENT AND A MEDICOLEGAL PERSPECTIVE The Macmillan Dictionary defines an adverse event as ‘‘not helpful to what is wanted’’ [1]. Professional liability companies tend to define an adverse event as ‘‘occurrences which could result in claims or suits’’ [2]. As defined above, a clinical/surgical adverse event has a component which requires medical decision making in that it is an event which can impede a desired clinical/surgical outcome. It is also an event or occurrence that may activate the legal process and precipitate litigation. As a result the management of a clinical/surgical adverse event related to liposuction surgery requires that the clinician approach the situation with a perspective that minimizes the impedance to the desired clinical outcome and minimizes the activation of the legal process. Thus, the reason for the title of this chapter being ‘‘Managing Adverse Events: A Medicolegal Perspective.’’
