Medically not cleared and surgery day got canceled, am I entitled to a refund?

I personally would not keep you money, but it depends on the protocol of the office you are dealing with.  Presumably if you are able to fix the obstacle to getting cleared, you can just reschedule for a different day.Good Luck!

Hello, I would suggest speaking to your surgeon about their refund policy after a cancelled operation, since each clinic will have its own policy.  There is no standard policy followed by all clinics.  In my clinic if there is a documented medical reason why surgery can not be performed, a refund is issued.

Dear tgdbless12,  All practices have different policies regarding deposits and refunds of fees/deposits. Please review the office policy and speak with the office manager. Most practices would refund the $$ or apply to your surgery when/if you can reschedule. Good luck. Dr. Gervais.

Hello,Thanks for your question. It depends on the financial policies of your plastic surgeon. Check out the documents you were given relative to refunds and the circumstances under which those are given. The best course is to reschedule for another day, assuming you can be cleared for surgery.

Thanks for your question and I'm sorry for your frustration with the cancellation. Every office has their own policy with regard to cancellation, who needs clearance, etc. Hopefully you can at least have this amount applied to your surgery. Best of Luck!

Typically we would try and reschedule the surgery date after you get cleared. Sometimes this takes months but sometimes it's quick.  Depends on your medical problem. Talk with your clinic. You are likely not the first person that has had this happened to and they will have a policy. The good news is that they are practicing safe surgery and want you to be healthy before you have an operation. This is a sign of an excellent practice. We do the same. Good luck!

Hello and thank you for your question. Every surgeon has a different protocol for this.  In my practice, if a patient cannot obtain medical clearance, a full refund is returned to the patient.  I recommend discussing this with your surgeon.
Best wishes and good luck.
Richard G. Reish, M.D.
Harvard-trained plastic surgeon

All offices have different billing procedures.  This should have been discussed with you preoperatively. Most likely you will have to pay the booking fee.  Personally, I have resisted charging booking fees and I have been in practice for 20 years.  It is unusual to cancel a patient for medical reasons, but it does happen.  Patients sometimes have personal issues, for example a death in the family.  I have always accepted this and chosen to continue to practice the "old fashion way", and it has worked fairly well--until recently.Even in a smaller community, I have noticed an significant increase in no shows for appointments and patients trying to move surgery dates and being surprised when they can not be accommodated. It is important for the patient to realize that surgery involves a large team of people and a lot of equipment.  If your surgery is scheduled and cancelled, especially the same day, often hundreds of dollars of supplies have already been opened.   I am sorry that this is happening to you, but I think more and more surgeons will be charging booking and/or cancellation fees.  Restaurants do it for dinner, why shouldn't we?  Good luck, talk to your surgeons office, maybe a personal appeal will help. Jane. 

Thank you for your question. Every clinic has their own protocols. Please contact your clinic. Regards, 

refunds are dependent upon the reason.  Most surgeons refund if not the fault of the patient... and your health status is not your fault.  But if you chose to cancel, most surgeons would keep your scheduling fee.  And if it was not a scheduling fee, you should get a refund regardless of cause since no procedure was done.  Hopefully, if you're not planning on having surgery ever, that your surgeon will have a check or credit your credit card at your next visit, or sooner if appropriate.