Dubai Court Orders Clinic to Return Dh159,000 Over Unfulfilled Surgery Deal

The Dubai Civil Court has directed a medical centre to repay Dh159,000 to a patient after finding that the facility failed to perform a contracted surgical procedure despite receiving full payment.

The court annulled the agreement between both parties and ordered the centre to return the sum with legal interest of 5 per cent per year, calculated from the date the case was filed until full repayment. It also granted the patient Dh5,000 in compensation for material and moral damages, while directing the centre to bear court fees, expenses and legal costs, including lawyer’s fees.

According to court documents, an Arab woman filed a civil case seeking to hold the medical centre and its manager jointly responsible for refunding the amount she had transferred to the centre’s account in preparation for a surgery agreed under a formal contract.

The claimant told the court that the medical centre repeatedly delayed the operation without fixing a final date, eventually failing to carry out the procedure. She argued that the postponements deprived her of the benefit of the funds paid and caused her to miss the appropriate window for surgery, amounting to a clear breach of contractual obligations.

To substantiate her claim, the patient submitted bank transfer records confirming full payment, along with WhatsApp messages detailing the agreement, the centre’s acknowledgment of receiving the funds and subsequent communications informing her of delays.

She also presented the medical centre’s commercial licence, indicating it operates as a single-owner limited liability company specialising in day surgeries.

Court Findings

In its ruling, the court said it has the authority to properly characterise claims and apply relevant legal provisions regardless of how litigants frame their requests. It observed that the demand for repayment inherently included a request to terminate the contract.

The court held that the patient had fulfilled her contractual duty by paying the agreed amount, while the medical centre failed in its core obligation to perform the surgery. This breach justified cancelling the contract and restoring both parties to their pre-contractual position.

The judgment further affirmed that electronic communications qualify as valid written evidence when not contested by the opposing party. It added that the awarded interest serves as compensation for delay in meeting financial obligations and is calculated from the date of filing the lawsuit.

The court fixed compensation at Dh5,000, citing the financial loss suffered by the patient due to being deprived of the use of her funds, along with the psychological distress caused by the failure to conduct the agreed medical procedure.

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