Lawsuits these days are about botched cosmetic surgery – breasts that don’t match, facelifts that are not quite right, brow lifts that went wrong or tummy tucks that cause infections. According to reports there is a 70 percent rise in claims in the past five years in South Australia.

The Medical Insurance Group report 150 claims worth $4 million against cosmetic and plastic surgeons, and cosmetic medical practitioners. According to MIGA, the claims against cosmetic surgery procedures are steadily rising each year, exposing gaps in the lucrative industry despite pledges to clean it up and implement reforms.

These lawsuits against cosmetic surgery gone wrong are rising, in spite of all the warnings issued to consumers about choosing qualified plastic surgeons, fly-by-night operators, misleading advertisements and poor information.

MIGA, which covers 7500 of SA\'s doctors and medical students, lists the top five areas of complaint as: liposuction, breast augmentation, eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty), non-surgical facelifts using threads, and laser facial treatment including chemical peels.

The increase in claims has flowed through to a rise in premiums, with GPs doing cosmetic procedures paying $17,000, compared with $10,000 about six years ago, and specialists paying $9000 more.