Basque High Court denies disability benefits for cosmetic surgery

The High Court of Justice of the Basque Country (TSJPV) has denied temporary disability benefits to a woman who underwent abdominoplasty and liposuction at a private clinic in Bilbao for aesthetic purposes.

The court ruled that because there was no prior pathology to justify the intervention, purely cosmetic surgery does not grant the right to social security subsidies. Although the woman later claimed a diagnosis of abdominal muscle diastasis, the tribunal noted there was no evidence of prior abdominal pain or medical reports from the public health system prescribing the surgery.