Woman gets Dhs500,000 for medical error in Abu Dhabi

Aya Al Deeb, Staff Reporter

The Abu Dhabi Court of Appeal ruled that the amount of compensation awarded to a female patient be increased from Dhs300,000 to Dhs500,000 in view of the damages she sustained due to a medical error made in a surgical operation she underwent to treat constipation.

The case dated back to a lawsuit that the patient filed against a hospital and a doctor in which she requested the court to obligate them to pay Dhs7 million plus delayed interest at 12 per cent. The patient explained that she was suffering from constipation and difficult defecation, adding that based on its tests, the hospital recommended her to undergo surgery.

She visited the doctor (second defendant), who worked for the hospital, who confirmed the need to undergo surgery.

She explained that she underwent the operation but suffered subsequently from multiple complications.

She went to another hospital and underwent another operation to correct the medical error that occurred in the first operation, she added, noting that the first hospital was found to have performed an unwanted operation, which resulted in many substantial damages.

The court assigned the Higher Committee for Medical Liability to explain the error incurred by the patient.

The committee concluded that a medical error had occurred when an unwanted surgery was done on the plaintiff that led to multiple complications.

The hospital objected to the report and consequently the court returned the case to the expert again. The supplementary report of the committee confirmed the medical error committed by the treating doctor. The unwanted surgery caused damage to the abdominal wall and the internal anal sphincter by 50 per cent.

The Court of First Instance ruled that the doctor and the hospital be obligated to pay the patient Dhs300,000 in compensation for the physical and moral damages she sustained plus a delayed interest of 4 per cent from the date of final judgment until payment is completed.