Dubai doctors charged with medical malpractice in botched nose job case

Only one of the three doctors charged appeared at Dubai Criminal Court on Monday

First Med Day Surgery Centre, Dubai. Antonie Robertson / The National

Three doctors involved in a nose surgery that sent an Emirati patient into a coma faced charges at a Dubai court on Monday.

The doctors, who worked at First Med Day Surgery Centre in Dubai, were charged with medical malpractice, at Dubai Criminal Court.

Only one of the doctors attended the hearing and denied the charge.

The trial was postponed to February 10 to allow the other two accused an opportunity to attend court and enter their pleas against the charge.

The doctors had their medical licences suspended in April last year, after they were involved in a routine nose surgery that left Rowdha Rashed Almaeeni, 25, with permanent disabilities.

The Emirati visited the centre to correct a nasal defect but, during what should have been a two-hour procedure, her blood pressure suddenly dropped.

Doctors failed to detect it and she suffered a cardiac arrest, starving her brain of oxygen for seven minutes and causing her severe brain damage.

Her family took Ms Almaeeni to a hospital in the US for treatment, without success, and have since returned to the UAE.

Immediately after the botched surgery, Dubai Health Authority announced the closure of the centre until the case was settled.

Prosecutors said an investigation into the incident, by the Higher Committee for Medical Liability, indicated "serious medical errors occurred during the surgery that caused the victim permanent disabilities."

The report showed that the surgery led to the loss of Ms Almaeeni's mental and physical abilities, rendering her fully disabled and in need of constant medical care.

On Monday, the Almaeeni family's lawyer, Isa Bin Haidar, said he was confident that the doctors would be convicted.

"The Higher Committee's reports were convincing and conclusive in proving the medical malpractice conducted by the medical doctors," he said.