Translated material
They gave me one millionth
The court denied compensation to the injured Olympic athlete. She demanded to punish the doctor who promised to put her back on her feet.
On February 18, the Nevsky Court of St. Petersburg made a decision on the claim of Maria Chaadaeva (Komissarova) against the clinic of Dr. Evgeniy Blum. The athlete demanded the return of 51 million rubles spent on treatment and five million in moral damages. The court awarded 40 thousand rubles in compensation and... a fine to the defendant of 20 thousand rubles. There was no talk of compensation for damage.
The court's decision came as a surprise to representatives of Maria Chaadaeva. “It was planned to discuss the financial components of the claim at the meeting,” lawyer Irina Fast told Novaya. “We wanted to invite witnesses to the next hearing.” Those who were also treated at the Blum Clinic, but were dissatisfied with the results. And suddenly this... Of course, we will appeal the decision!”
Maria Chaadaeva’s claim was partially satisfied - she was awarded almost a million times less than what she asked for . The defendant, LLC Research Institute of Physical Rehabilitation and New Rehabilitation Technologies, is obliged by a court decision to pay 40 thousand rubles as moral compensation.
Maria Chaadaeva in the Nevsky District Court of St. Petersburg / Photo: Maxim Leonov
Maria Chaadaeva herself considers the court’s decision to be at least hasty. “On the one hand, I am, of course, dissatisfied with the decision,” Maria said. “But it was important for me to set an example for people who lost money and did not get their health back.” That we can and should fight not only for our health, but also for violated rights.”
“Novaya” talked about how Maria Komissarova (after her marriage - Chaadaeva) on February 15, 2014, during the Sochi Olympics, received a serious spinal injury during ski cross training. After the operation in Krasnaya Polyana, she was sent to Germany for treatment, but German doctors also admitted that she would no longer be able to walk. Then a certain philanthropist advised her to go to Dr. Blum’s clinic in Spain. In Marbella, Evgeniy Blum, having examined the athlete, stated that “the case is not the most difficult, and he undertakes to help.” But it will cost a lot of money.
“To be honest, the issue of payment was the last thing on our minds at that moment,” Chaadaeva said in court. “They gave me hope, they promised to put me on my feet, but how much it would cost is the tenth thing.” That’s why I signed the contract without actually reading it. Because I believed the person, and not the pieces of paper.”
As it turned out, the agreement needed to be treated more carefully. Because in it, as the representatives of the defendant (LLC Research Institute of Physical Rehabilitation and New Rehabilitation Technologies, legal entity of the Blum Clinic) drew attention to, no guarantees of complete recovery were given.
“The services under the contract were provided in full,” Denis Ionov, the defendant’s representative, said in court. - Maria’s condition has improved, which at least proves that she was able to give birth to a child. But no one promised to completely cure her and put her back on her feet.”
As follows from the statement of claim, confirmed by the testimony of the Chaadaev couple in court, they spent 51 million 70 thousand 800 rubles trying to leave the wheelchair and walk on their own feet. According to the financial reports of the Ostrov charity foundation, which acted as a third party in court, 33 million 132 thousand 248 rubles were transferred to help Chaadaeva from 2014 to 2017. Of this, the defendant admits receiving 23 million rubles.
“We do not deny receiving money from Ostrov, but we believe that this money was paid for services provided,” says Ionov. “We know nothing about the rest of the money mentioned in the lawsuit.”
“On February 18, we presented screenshots of correspondence with the clinic’s employees, from the text of which it is clear that even after the termination of the contract, payment for the clinic’s services was carried out by depositing cash,” says Irina Fast. — Yes, and the representative of the clinic, Elena Balkarova (wife of Evgeniy Blum), confirmed this at the court hearing. Although she continued to state that no one promised complete healing.”
Maria's representative petitioned to subpoena witnesses who could confirm Blum's words that he promised to put Chaadaeva on her feet. However, the court considered that this was being done to delay the process and rejected the petition.
“The court did not even accept the witness’s request to question him via video conferencing,” says Irina Fast. “This witness, who personally participated in the negotiations between Maria and Blum, is a disabled person of the first group and is now in Spain.”
At the same time, the defendant’s representatives did not provide financial documents on payment for Chaadaeva’s treatment, as requested by the plaintiff. The defendant’s representative stated at the last meeting that the agreement with Chaadaeva does not provide for financial reporting for the service provided.
As follows from the testimony of Alexey Chaadaev, his wife was treated at the Blum Clinic from May 2014 to February 2016. Moreover, the contract was concluded for only one year. Representatives of the defendant stated in court that after the contract expired, they, out of the goodness of their hearts, allowed the former athlete to continue training at their center. However, at the last meeting Balkarova admitted receiving money for the second year.
In February 2016, a medical examination showed that there was no improvement in Chaadaeva’s condition. It was decided to stop treatment. When asked why she didn’t immediately go to court, Chaadaeva replied that, firstly, she had no time for litigation (she gave birth to a son in April 2017), and secondly, she simply did not have money.
Two years later, in mid-2018, the startup PLATFORMA took over the financing of the lawsuit, whose lawyers work for a percentage of the compensation and payments won.
As Irina Fast explained, the complaint to the St. Petersburg City Court will be filed after the parties have been able to familiarize themselves with the reasoning part of the court’s decision, that is, in about a week.