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- Dubai 04:36 05:52 12:21 15:49 18:45 20:02
The Court of Cassation, however, has based its ruling on the belief that a doctor will never neglect his patient (FILE)
Dubai Court of Cassation has ruled that a doctor should be acquitted if proved that he did his best in providing intensive care to the patient and prescribed correct medication despite failure in recovery.
The court ruled in a new legal principle that the standard care service provided by a doctor (physician) can be verified with any other physician who has experience of such situations.
The new legal principle was established by the Court of Cassation after a medical centre challenged Court of Appeal’s decision against it. Court of Appeal earlier ruled that the medical centre would have pay Dh55,000 to a patient as compensation for negligence and damages. The patient had asked for Dh1.25m in compensation in the lawsuit.
The plaintiff said in the lawsuit that he “went to the centre for treatment of malaria, and told the doctor that he just returned from Nigeria where he was infected with this disease.”
He said the doctor prescribed (Chloroquine) medicine which had side effects on him and worsened his condition. Then he was transferred to another hospital for treatment.
The Court of First Instance dismissed the case but the patient appealed to the Court of Appeal which modified the Appellant provision and required the medical centre to pay Dh55,000 as compensation to him.
But the medical centre decided to appeal against it before the Court of Cassation, which has been the subject of the principles above.
The Court of Cassation accepted medical centre’s appeal and asked the Court of Appeal that the case should be reconsidered by judicial committee other than that which ruled earlier.
The Court of Cassation, however, has based its ruling on the belief that a doctor will never neglect his patient.
It also ruled that if a patient files charges that he didn’t receive proper medical treatment from the physician, then proving this negligence is patient’s responsibility.
The court also said that “it was clear from the documents that the patient came to the centre infected with malaria. But the doctor was not negligent and prescribed right medicine for malaria which is approved by the World Health Organization and considered one of the best medicines to treat malaria.”
The physician, the court said, advised the patient to get himself admitted in the hospital, but he did not comply.
The court also ruled that there were no side effects from the medicine and in fact the patient was suffering from complications for three months when he was in Nigeria.
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