Victim gets Dh100,000 for nasal medical error

The Federal Supreme Court (FSC) ordered two medical centres to pay Dh100,000 in damages to a man for committing a serious medical error during two separate sinus operations.

The man suffered from post-operation complications including flow of fluid from the nose in large quantities after undergoing a Laparoscopic sinus surgery at a hospital in Abu Dhabi in 2002.

When he visited another medical centre three years later, doctors decided to operate on him again, leading to further complications in his condition.

The man filed a case against the two hospitals after an autonomous medical committee found a medical error had been committed by two doctors at both centres, leading to a hole in the man’s skull.

The court rejected his plea, prompting him to appeal the sentence and win a Dh77,000 compensation. He told court that he was examined by a visiting surgeon at a government hospital and was told he needed an urgent operation, after which he started to improve.

The two hospitals then appealed with the court of cassation, which ordered them to pay Dh100,000 to the patient.

In a last attempt to reverse that verdict, the two centres appealed with the FSC, which upheld the earlier sentence and ordered them to pay Dh100,000, according to Emarat Alyoum newspaper.

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