The Story
The claimant agreed with the defendant doctor to undergo a face and neck lift for aesthetic purposes. After the operation, she said her lower eyelids would not close. She returned to the doctor and, following that direction, underwent a second operation. Even then, according to the file, she still did not reach the result she wanted and believed had been agreed.
The defense treated the outcome as a complication and denied fault. Lower courts initially accepted that position and dismissed the claim.
Why Yargıtay Reversed the Case
Yargıtay said the lower courts were asking the wrong primary question. In an aesthetic intervention treated as a work contract, the analysis is not limited to whether the doctor avoided a classic medical error. The court must also ask whether the promised result was actually produced.
Here, the file showed that the patient had to undergo a second operation and still did not obtain the intended appearance. For Yargıtay, that meant the matter could not be closed by simply calling the outcome a complication.