The Massachusetts Appeals Court reversed a Superior Court's denial of an eye surgeon's motion to dismiss a medical malpractice action, concluding that a signed arbitration agreement was still valid despite the Spanish-speaking plaintiff's claim that he failed to understand it.

Carlos E. Lopez Rivera had engaged the services of eye surgeon Steven W. Stetson, signing a form prior to surgery under which he agreed to submit any potential disputes to arbitration. Lopez later filed a medical malpractice complaint, which Stetson moved to dismiss, according to the appeals court's Aug. 31 opinion.