Patient receives compensation over postponed surgery.
Dubai: The Dubai Civil Court has ruled that a medical centre must refund Dh159,000 to a patient after failing to perform a scheduled surgical procedure despite receiving full payment.
The court annulled the contract between the parties and ordered the medical centre to repay the Dh159,000 with 5 percent annual legal interest, calculated from the date the lawsuit was filed until full settlement. Additionally, the court awarded the patient Dh5,000 in compensation for material and moral damages and instructed the centre to cover court fees, expenses, and legal costs, including attorney’s fees.
Repeated Postponements
Court records show that an Arab woman filed a civil lawsuit seeking to hold the medical centre and its manager jointly responsible for returning the funds she had transferred in preparation for a surgery scheduled under a formal contract.
The claimant told the court that the medical centre repeatedly postponed the surgery without providing a final date, ultimately failing to perform the procedure. She argued that the delays prevented her from benefiting from the money she had paid and caused her to miss the appropriate timing for the surgery, representing a clear breach of the contractual agreement.
Documentary Evidence
To support her case, the patient submitted bank transfer records showing full payment, along with WhatsApp messages outlining the agreement, the centre’s acknowledgment of receiving the funds, and subsequent messages notifying her of the repeated postponements.
She also submitted the medical centre’s commercial licence, confirming it operates as a single-owner limited liability company specialising in day surgeries.
Court Findings
The court stated that it has the authority to properly classify claims and apply the relevant legal provisions, regardless of how the requests are framed by litigants. It noted that the demand for repayment inherently included a request to terminate the contract.
The court found that the patient had fulfilled her contractual obligation by paying the agreed fee, while the medical centre failed to perform its primary obligation to carry out the surgery. This breach justified cancelling the contract and restoring both parties to their pre-contractual positions.
The ruling also affirmed that electronic communications are valid written evidence if not disputed by the opposing party. Additionally, the court explained that the awarded interest compensates for the delay in fulfilling financial obligations and is calculated from the date the judicial claim was filed.
Compensation Awarded
The court granted Dh5,000 in compensation, taking into account both the financial loss the patient suffered from being unable to use her funds and the psychological distress caused by the medical centre’s failure to perform the agreed-upon procedure.
