NSW Laser Hair Removal Negligence?

Australia's #1 for Law
Join 150,000 Australians every month. Ask a question, respond to a question and better understand the law today!
FREE - Join Now

Manel

Member
9 August 2015
2
0
1
I recently went to a clinic to have laser hair removal for both of my legs before travelling overseas to Hawaii. Something went wrong, the photos speak for themselves. I went to Blacktown emergency ward but there was no skin doctor to properly assess me. I was due to go overseas in a couple of days. I had no time to scedule an appointment for a specialist to assess my condition properly.

I presented the letter I received from Blacktown hospital emergency ward on discharge to the laser hair removal clinic owner to try and settle this out of court. Her reply was it was a reaction from the laser hair removal treatment so she's not liable as there was no negligence on her part. I have text messages and email correspondence to support this.

My legs were fried, swollen, hurting, and sore. I was in so much pain and discomfort. I was due to travel to Hawaii in a couple of days. My holiday was obviously ruined. I will go into more detail later. For now I just wanted to know based on what the photos show, the letter from Blacktown hospital, the blood test results, and the medication I took. Do I have a case?

The hospital treating doctor advised me I can't be exposed to the sun, heat or water. So I stayed in the hotel for the duration of my holiday which was 1 week. I paid a lot of money which I didn't get to enjoy. And suffered a great deal. Next day I went to a medical centre in Blacktown shopping centre. The doctor gave me a prescription for different medication.

One other point I need to make. Only were the machine physically touched my skin that area was effected. Whilst she was doing my legs it hurt so much. She said this is normal to feel this much pain. I felt I was been burnt and tortured slowly. She keep insisting and reassuring me this is all normal. You can see the print of the machine all over my legs.

I have a few photos. Plus the letter from hospital, the blood test, and medications.

What are my legal rights? What can I do? Do I have a case? Where do I go?
 
S

Sophea

Guest
Hi Manel,

I'm so sorry to hear about your condition. You should get a copy of any papers, disclaimers, limitations of liability or similar that you signed before you underwent the laser treatments. Generally, the disclaimers are quite rigorous and you sign away many of your rights to sue them for instances where they administered the treatment correctly but due to conditions specific to you, you reacted adversely to the treatment. However, they cannot contract out of cases of gross negligence, therefore if they have been negligent in administering the treatment and you can prove this, then you should still be able to sue them.

You must bear in mind however that if the effects of the reaction are not permanent in nature, then the amount recoverable for any loss will not be significant and may not justify the legal fees it costs to pursue a claim. Once you have the documents you signed, go to a personal injury lawyer who offers a free consultation and see what they say based on all the evidence that you have. They have an obligation to give you an honest opinion on your prospects of successfully making a claim against the clinic.
 

Manel

Member
9 August 2015
2
0
1
Hi thanks for getting back to me. I never signed anything. Do you know why this happened to my legs?
 
S

Sophea

Guest
Hi Manel,

no I'm sorry I don't know why it would have happened to your legs. I would suggest asking another laser hair removal clinic about how the treatment was administered and the resultant damage to your legs and try to determine what went wrong.
 

Serge Gorval

Well-Known Member
LawConnect (LawTap) Verified
2 November 2015
201
12
614
Sydney
lawtap.com
I've previously had a matter similar to yours, represented a personal friend who suffered injury in, ermmm, more discrete places. We got a private settlement.

You may have a claim here.
 

JS79

Well-Known Member
2 October 2015
306
36
714
Perth
In regards to a negligence claim, you will need to prove 3 things -

1) That they owed a duty of care to you; (duty)
2) that they breached that duty of care; (breach)
3) that duty of care caused the damages in which you are seeking compensation (causation).

If you are unable to prove your case on all three levels it is very hard to get compensation - not only that you have to get over the thresholds for general damages.

You will at the very least need two reports - one stating that it was negligent what they did and one saying this is the effect of that negligent action.

Definitely, seek an opinion from an experienced personal injury lawyer; one who specialises in negligence claims.


See https://lawanswers.wufoo.com/forms/get-connected-with-the-right-lawyer-for-you to be connected to a local lawyer.
 

ElizaShrestha

Member
20 July 2016
1
0
1
Hi Manel, how did it go with your case and recovery?

Actually I had the similar experience 2 weeks ago. I had gone to the gym for 10 minutes before the treatment and it burned my skin. Clearly, I was not aware that gym should be avoided. It was a surprise. Anyway, they have given me creams to apply for few weeks, it doesn't hurt but the skin has scars and dark.

Coincidentally, I am from Blacktown too and went to Laser Clinics Australia.

Please let me know if there are any remaining scars and if you ever filed a case or anything?

Much appreciated.

Thanks,
 

JacOat

Member
3 July 2018
1
0
1
Hi Manel, how did it go with your case and recovery?

Actually I had the similar experience 2 weeks ago. I had gone to the gym for 10 minutes before the treatment and it burned my skin. Clearly, I was not aware that gym should be avoided. It was a surprise. Anyway, they have given me creams to apply for few weeks, it doesn't hurt but the skin has scars and dark.

Coincidentally, I am from Blacktown too and went to Laser Clinics Australia.

Please let me know if there are any remaining scars and if you ever filed a case or anything?

Much appreciated.

Thanks,
Oh no! I visited the West Lakes Laser Clinics and the first visit was so so painful. I was asking the girl if it was so painful because I hadn't had a treatment in 6 months. She replied yes because of the thickness of the hair. Ow! I'd never had it that bad before. That night I noticed severe redness on one underarm. No pain, tingling, itching. I went back to them and pointed it out. All they would do is give me yellow light treatments. Now I analyse the areas they lasered, they are all considerably darker than the rest of my skin. And I don't think these parts have ever seen the light of day.

I have done the full sessions through Silk previously with minimal pain and no darkened skin.

Doctor gave me a certificate to say it appeared to be a sun burn and not a reaction to their after treatment gel, as they had suggested.

Where to from now?