Hospital negligence leads to death of Emirati man, court rules

The victim’s CAT scan showed developing symptoms of a cerebral stroke and the hospital was negligent in its treatment, which led to his death.

ABU DHABI // A hospital and its regulating company are responsible for the death of a 65-year-old Emirati for being too slow to treat him, the appeals court ruled.

The victim’s CAT scan showed him to be developing a stroke and the hospital was negligent in its treatment, which lead to his death.

The court ordered the company to pay the victim’s widow Dh50,000 as a financial compensation, and Dh200,000 as a moral compensation with a 5 per cent annual legal interest for both the widow and his daughters.

A medical responsibility committee was assigned by the Court of First Instance to investigate the case, and it discovered that the victim’s diagnosis, treatment plan and methods fell short of regular health standards and did not follow global guidelines, therefore it was considered a clear case of medical negligence.

The Court of First Instance originally ordered the hospital and regulating company to co-pay the widow Dh50,000 for financial damages, and Dh900,000 for moral damages, the latter of which was to be shared with her daughters.

The name of the hospital and company was not disclosed as an appeal to the cassation court may be possible.