People searching for a malpractice lawyer in Türkiye usually have the same three questions: can I still claim from home, who pays, and how long do I have. The short answers are below; the sections that follow give the legal basis.
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If you were treated in Türkiye as a foreign patient and are now back home, our guide medical malpractice in Turkey for foreign patients sets out the evidence to secure, the court and mediation route, the time limits and how the claim is run from abroad.
For the procedural route in detail, see our guide how to sue a hospital or doctor in Türkiye, and for the time limit on your own dates, our malpractice time limit checker.
Who is liable when treatment in Türkiye goes wrong?
The doctor and the private hospital can both be liable, on different grounds:
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- The treatment contract. Elective aesthetic treatment sold as a defined result comes close to a contract for work, in which the contractor undertakes to produce a work (TCO Art. 470); no statutory provision makes this classification, and the court decides it on the facts. Where it is adopted, a defect in the work for which the contractor is liable opens the elective rights in TCO Art. 475, with the right to damages under the general rules preserved. Curative treatment such as bariatric surgery is closer to a mandate (TCO Art. 502): the doctor must carry out the treatment with loyalty and care (TCO Art. 506(2)), measured against the conduct expected of a prudent professional undertaking similar work (TCO Art. 506(3)).
- The hospital. A hospital that contracted with the patient must make good the damage that the people it uses to perform its obligations cause while doing that work (TCO Art. 116(1)). As an employer it is also liable for damage its employees cause in the course of their work unless it proves it took the required care in selecting, instructing and supervising them (TCO Art. 66(1) and (2)); an employer running an enterprise is liable for damage caused by the enterprise’s activities unless it proves that the enterprise’s organisation was suitable for preventing the damage (TCO Art. 66(3)).
- Together. Where several persons cause a damage together or are liable for the same damage on different grounds, the rules on joint and several liability apply (TCO Art. 61), so the claim can be brought against the hospital as well as the doctor.
| Surgical Classification | Governing Statute | Legal Standard | Statutory Remedy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aesthetic & Cosmetic Surgery | TCO Art. 470 et seq. (Eser), where sold as a defined result | The work as agreed; a defect in the work for which the contractor is liable opens the owner's elective rights. | Rescission where the work is unusable or cannot fairly be imposed, price reduction, or repair at the contractor's cost where this does not entail excessive cost (TCO Art. 475); damages under the general rules, including moral damages for harm to bodily integrity (TCO Art. 56). |
| Bariatric & Gastric Sleeve | TCO Art. 502 et seq. (Vekalet) | Loyal and careful conduct measured against a prudent professional undertaking similar work (TCO Art. 506(2) and (3)). | Medical costs + loss of earning capacity (TCO Art. 54) + moral damages (TCO Art. 56). |
| Dental & Hair Restoration | TCO Art. 470 or Art. 502, decided on the facts | Where a defined result was agreed, the work as agreed; otherwise loyal and careful conduct. | Corrective treatment costs + damages, including moral damages. |
| Private Hospital Facility | TCO Arts. 116, 66 and 61 | Liability for the persons it uses to perform the contract (Art. 116); employer's liability subject to the proof of due care in Art. 66. | Joint and several liability with others liable for the same damage (Art. 61). |
Does a consent form I signed stop a claim?
A consent form shows what information was given; it is not a release. Two rules matter for foreign patients:
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- How the information was given. Information must be given in a way the patient can understand, suited to their social and cultural level, and, except in emergencies, allowing a reasonable time (Patient Rights Regulation Art. 18). A form drafted only in Turkish, or handed over minutes before surgery, does not by itself show that this was done. Law No. 5013 approved the ratification of the European Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine.
- Advance exclusions of liability. An advance agreement excluding liability for gross fault is absolutely void (TCO Art. 115(1)). Where a specialised profession can only be practised with a permit granted by law or the competent authorities, an advance agreement excluding liability even for slight fault is absolutely void (TCO Art. 115(3)), and so is an agreement excluding liability for the acts of auxiliary persons (TCO Art. 116(3)).
What compensation can a patient claim?
TCO Art. 54 lists bodily damage as, in particular:
- Treatment costs, including corrective treatment, whether carried out in Türkiye or abroad, proved by invoices and medical records.
- Loss of earnings during recovery.
- Losses from reduced or lost capacity to work.
- Losses from the impairment of economic prospects.
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Where bodily integrity is harmed, the judge may also award the injured person an appropriate sum as moral damages, taking the features of the case into account; in case of serious bodily harm or death, the relatives may be awarded moral damages too (TCO Art. 56).
Which court, and is mediation required first?
Consumer courts hear disputes arising from consumer transactions (Law No. 6502, Art. 73(1)). The Law treats as a consumer a person acting for non-commercial, non-professional purposes, and as a consumer transaction any contract with a person acting for commercial or professional purposes, including mandate and works contracts (Art. 3). For disputes heard by the consumer courts, applying to a mediator before filing is a condition of the action (Art. 73/A(1)). Disputes below a value limit go to a consumer arbitration committee instead (Art. 68(1)); that limit was set at thirty thousand Turkish lira and is raised every calendar year by the revaluation rate (Art. 68(4)).
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Whether a given claim belongs to the consumer court depends on who the provider is and on the facts, which is why the file is read first. Courts usually obtain a medical expert opinion on whether the care met the expected standard, often from the Council of Forensic Medicine (Adli Tıp Kurumu).
How long do I have to bring a claim?
It depends on how the claim is framed. Claims under a mandate contract and under a works contract are subject to five years (TCO Art. 147, items 5 and 6), except that a claim arising from the contractor’s failure, through gross fault, to perform at all or properly falls outside that item and stays under the ten-year rule in TCO Art. 146 unless another provision applies. Actions over a defective work are time-barred two years after delivery for works other than immovable structures, and twenty years after delivery where the contractor is grossly at fault (TCO Art. 478). A tort claim is time-barred two years after the injured party learned of the damage and the person liable, and in any event ten years after the act; where the act is also a crime for which criminal law provides a longer limitation period, that period applies (TCO Art. 72(1)). Our malpractice time limit checker works through these periods on your dates.
How we can help on a malpractice claim
We act for foreign patients and families in claims against doctors and private hospitals in Türkiye. In practice that means:
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- Reading the file first. We obtain the full medical file from the hospital, including the consent documents, and have it reviewed by an independent physician in the relevant specialty before any step is taken.
- Working out the route. Contract or tort, which defendants, which time limit, consumer court or not, mediation or the arbitration committee.
- Running the claim from a distance. Most steps can be taken under a power of attorney; we plan with the patient any step where the court or the expert body needs them in person.
- Mediation, court and enforcement. We conduct the mediation, the court case and, if a judgment is not paid, the enforcement proceedings.
If you would like us to look at what happened, you can send a short summary and the documents you have through the contact options on this page. We reply in English.
Where the facility treats patients travelling from abroad, a separate regulatory layer applies alongside the liability rules above, beginning with the international health tourism authorisation certificate. That layer as a whole, including the certificate, accreditation, portal records and the sanction ladder, is the subject of our health tourism regulatory compliance work. The two policies such a facility must carry are examined in complication cover and physician professional liability. The position of the agency that arranged the trip is examined in the legal position of health tourism intermediaries.
Related guides
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- Medical Malpractice in Turkey for Foreign Patients: foreign patient rights, evidence preservation, consumer court mediation, and remote litigation.
- Cosmetic and bariatric malpractice claims: corrective surgery costs, the contract for work model (TCO 470) and moral damages.
- How to sue a hospital or doctor in Türkiye: private and public providers, mediation and the expert stage.
- Legal matters in Istanbul for foreign clients: working with a lawyer in Türkiye from abroad.
