The medical profession is one of the most delicate and challenging professions. Therefore, its practitioners must exercise the utmost caution, especially since they deal with human bodies.
Consequently, they must keep abreast of all new developments in the medical field. However, if a doctor deviates from this path, neglects their duties, lags behind their peers in development and advancement, and commits a medical error during the treatment of a patient—whether in therapy, cosmetic procedures, surgeries, or other operations—the UAE legislator has granted the injured party the right to seek recourse against the doctor and the hospital where the error occurred.
The injured party, suffering from an injury resulting from medical malpractice, begins by filing a complaint with the Medical Committee. The Medical Liability Law stipulates that "a committee of expert physicians specializing in all medical fields, called the 'Medical Liability Committee,' shall be established by a decision of the Minister or the head of the health authority, as applicable.
The executive regulations shall specify its formation, rules, and procedures. This committee, and no other body, shall have exclusive jurisdiction to review complaints referred to it by the health authority, the Public Prosecution, or the court, and to determine whether or not medical malpractice occurred and its extent." Its seriousness.
...... The provisions stipulated in Federal Law No.
7 of 2012 shall apply to this committee, insofar as they do not conflict with the provisions of this Decree-Law. No compensation claims filed due to medical liability shall be accepted except after recourse to and presentation before the Medical Liability Committees.
However, a lawyer specializing in medical malpractice cases in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, clarifies the text of Article (20) of the same law, stating that “the complainant and the accused professional, as the case may be, may appeal the report of the Medical Liability Committee by submitting a grievance to the competent health authority within thirty days from the date of legal notification of the report's conclusions, as specified in the Executive Regulations. The competent health authority shall refer the report and all related papers and documents, along with the grievance, to the Supreme Medical Liability Committee stipulated in Article (21) of this Decree-Law.
The committee's report shall be considered final if no grievance is filed within the period specified in the first paragraph of this article. In this case, appeals against the medical reports issued by it shall not be accepted before any other authority.” The text of Article (21) of the same law states that “a committee shall be formed by a decision of the Council of Ministers.” A permanent medical technical committee called the "Supreme Committee for Medical Liability" is established based on a proposal from the Minister of Health and Prevention, after coordination with other health authorities.
The decision specifies how it is formed, its rules and procedures, the term of its membership, and the remuneration granted to its members. Lawyers specializing in medical malpractice cases in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, emphasize that these committees are exclusively responsible for reviewing appeals against the reports of the medical liability committees stipulated in this decree-law.
They prepare a reasoned report outlining their opinion on each appeal, in accordance with the procedures and rules specified in the aforementioned Cabinet decision. The Supreme Committee may uphold the report, reject the appeal, amend it, or cancel it, and its report is considered final.
Medical reports issued by this committee are not subject to appeal before any other authority. This collectively indicates that the legislator has specifically assigned the Medical Liability Committee stipulated in the aforementioned decree-law, and no other committee, the authority to provide an opinion on whether or not medical malpractice has occurred, its cause, the resulting damages, the causal relationship between the malpractice and the damage, the percentage of disability in the affected organ of the patient (if any), and to provide an opinion on any other matters requested of it in this regard.
The law also outlines the procedures for reviewing and appealing the decisions of the committee before the Supreme Medical Liability Committee. The report issued by this committee is considered final and not subject to appeal before any authority.
Furthermore, it establishes a condition for filing compensation claims—due to medical liability—in court: the matter must first be referred to the Medical Liability Committees; otherwise, the claim is inadmissible. Consequently, compensation claims filed in court due to medical liability are only admissible after referral to the Medical Liability Committees and the issuance of their final report determining whether or not medical negligence occurred.
If a claim is filed before the Supreme Medical Liability Committee has ruled on the appeal submitted by the complainant or the accused practitioner, as applicable, the court suspends proceedings until the committee issues its ruling.
The Black Rope team confirms that it has handled numerous claims related to bodily injuries resulting from medical errors and has developed its own unique approach to achieving unprecedented results. The Black Rope platform and medical malpractice lawyers in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates explain, and if you have any inquiries regarding compensation cases or in various branches of law, do not hesitate to contact us and communicate with us on The Black Rope platform, via chat or telephone.