Medicumi patient received invoice 37 days after examination – commission ruled against him

The Consumer Disputes Commission settled a dispute involving a Medicumi clinic patient who received an invoice for an examination only 37 days after receiving the service. The patient claimed he was not informed of the examination price beforehand, but the commission ruled against him.

The Consumer Disputes Commission received an unusual complaint filed by a Medicumi clinic patient: an invoice for an examination arrived only 37 days after the procedure was performed. The patient believed that such a delayed invoice was unfair, especially since he claimed he was not informed of the examination's cost before it was carried out.

The crux of the dispute was whether a healthcare service provider must inform the patient of the cost before the examination, and whether a delayed invoice relieves the patient of the obligation to pay. The patient argued that if an invoice arrives so long after receiving the service, he cannot consider it fair.

The commission ruled against the patient. According to the decision, a delayed invoice does not in itself cancel the obligation to pay for the service – the patient received the examination and the clinic's demand for payment is lawful. The fact that the patient was not informed of the price beforehand also did not prove sufficient grounds for refusing payment, since accepting the service entailed an obligation to pay for it.