'Special needs' parking leads man to Dh300,000

The Abu Dhabi Court of Appeal has ordered a hospital to pay Dh300,000 compensation to a patient who suffered partial loss of use of his legs due to improper medical care, reported an Arabic daily.

The Appeals Court upheld the verdict of the Court of First Instance after it was proved that the man lost about 60 per cent use of his legs due to negligence by hospital, according to Al Bayan.

The case came to light when the man approached the Traffic Police to obtain parking permission under the special needs category.

The traffic department referred him to a medical committee, which filed its report stating that his condition was a result of negligence by hospital.

Explaining his ordeal, the man told the court that he fell sick upon his return from a holiday in an European country. He couldn’t breathe properly and his cough was getting worse, so he checked into a hospital, which diagnosed him with pneumonia.

He said that despite staying in the hospital for three weeks and undergoing a series of tests and X-Rays, his condition was only getting worse and he even slipped into coma for a while.

That’s when the doctor decided to move him to another hospital, which was better equipped to handle such a case.

There he was advised to undergo arthroscopy. He claims that the hospital, meanwhile, had already taken his permission for a biopsy of his lungs.

However, no arthroscopy was carried out.

He told the court that he spent two months at the hospital regularly undergoing tests.

He ultimately began using crutches as his joints were so weak that he could not put pressure on them.

He decided to move the courts after receiving the report from the medical committee that the traffic department referred him to. He filed complaints against both the hospitals. He then requested the court to refer him to a competent medical committee to examine his case thoroughly and decide the reasons behind his disability.

The committee, assigned by the court, confirmed that the treatment provided by the first hospital was right and according to medical standards. But, the second hospital did not diagnosis accurately. It did not carry out the necessary tests to reach the right diagnosis, it said.

According to the report by the medical committee, the hospital put him on cortisone and did not take care to prevent the side effects associated with the treatment. This resulted in about 60 per cent damage to his limbs. His hip joints would need replacement, the committee suggested.

The man thus asked for Dh300,000 compensation from the hospitals.

While the Court of First Instance acquitted the first hospital, it ordered the second hospital to pay the amount towards material and moral damages.

The ruling was upheld by the Court of Appeal
 
 

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