Gran Canaria: cosmetic surgeon ordered to pay over failure to inform patient
A civil court in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has ordered a cosmetic surgeon, the company through which he operated and his insurer to pay a patient €40,022.47 in compensation, jointly. The daily Canarias7 reported this on 23 August 2026. According to the court, the reason is not a mistake during the operation itself but a failure to inform: the patient was not told, in the tailored, personalised way required, about the statistically frequent risks of the procedure.
Photo: Unknown photographer, National Cancer Institute, Public domain (Symbolbild).
The matter was handled, according to Canarias7, by the Sección Civil nº 14 of the Tribunal de Instancia of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Out of respect for those involved, neither the patient nor the doctor is named here; the source does not name them either.
The ruling
According to the account reported by Canarias7, the court ordered the surgeon, the company through which he practised and his liability insurer to pay compensation of €40,022.47 on a joint-and-several basis. The three defendants are therefore each liable for the full amount.
The case is a civil claim for damages. It concerns, expressly, a breach of the duty to inform, not a proven technical error during the operation. That distinction is central to reading the ruling correctly.
The procedure
According to Canarias7, the operation was a combined breast augmentation and lift (in Spanish, mamoplastia de aumento y elevación) together with liposuction. The procedure was carried out on 25 August 2022 at the clínica La Paloma.
The patient paid €8,685 for it, according to the report. The €40,022.47 awarded is considerably higher than that sum; the exact figure was set according to the circumstances of the individual case.
The core issue: the duty to inform
The court concluded that the patient had not been informed, in a personalised and understandable way, of the statistically frequent risks of the combined procedure. A valid consent — in Spanish, consentimiento informado — requires exactly that: information about the expected risks that is tailored to the specific case.
According to the reasoning as reported by Canarias7, the information given did not meet that standard. As a result, the patient's consent had not been given on a sufficient basis — regardless of how the operation went in technical terms.
What consentimiento informado means
Consentimiento informado is informed consent. Before a procedure, patients must be told, in understandable terms, about the nature, benefits, alternatives and above all the risks of the treatment. Only on that basis can they give valid consent.
For elective, non-urgent procedures — as in aesthetic surgery — the standard applied to information is generally an especially careful one, because there is no medical emergency that would justify cutting corners. A signed standard form, on its own, does not replace a personal conversation about the risks.
What the case means for patients
For patients, the case underlines how important thorough information is before cosmetic procedures. Anyone planning surgery should insist on a detailed conversation about benefits and risks and clear up any open questions in advance.
Legally, the ruling shows that inadequate information can lead to compensation even where nothing is established about a technical error during the operation. The €40,022.47 cited here applies to this case alone and cannot be generalised.
Take time to reflect and ask your questions before you sign the consentimiento informado.
All details rest on the reporting by Canarias7 of 23 August 2026. The patient and the doctor are not named here, as in the source.
Key facts
- Court: Sección Civil nº 14 of the Tribunal de Instancia of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (per Canarias7, 23 August 2026)
- Compensation: €40,022.47, to be paid jointly and severally by the surgeon, the operating company and the insurer
- Procedure: combined breast augmentation and lift (mamoplastia de aumento y elevación) plus liposuction
- Date and place: 25 August 2022 at the clínica La Paloma
- What the patient paid for the procedure: €8,685
- Legal basis: no personalised information about the statistically frequent risks — a failure of consentimiento informado
FAQ
- What is the ruling about?
- A court in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has, according to Canarias7, ordered a cosmetic surgeon, his operating company and his insurer to pay €40,022.47 in compensation because a patient was not adequately informed of the risks.
- How much is the compensation and who pays it?
- The compensation is €40,022.47. According to the report, the surgeon, the company and the insurer are jointly and severally liable — that is, each responsible for the full amount.
- What was the actual reason for the ruling?
- The court found that the patient had not been informed, in a personalised and understandable way, of the statistically frequent risks. That left no sufficient basis for valid consent (consentimiento informado).
- Does the ruling mean the operation went wrong?
- No. This is a civil ruling about the duty to inform. The source says nothing about a technical error during the operation itself.
- What is consentimiento informado?
- Informed consent: before a procedure, patients must be told in understandable terms about the benefits, alternatives and risks. Only then can they give valid consent.
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