Unlicensed plastic surgeon convicted of patient's death

French doctor sentenced to one year and ordered to pay compensation to the family of a breast enlargement patient.

DUBAI // An unlicensed plastic surgeon and his assistant have been convicted of causing the death of a breast enlargement patient. The French doctor was sentenced to one year in Dubai Central Jail for negligence by the Dubai Court of Misdemeanours yesterday. His Lebanese assistant - described as a "cosmetic specialist" - was given a two-month suspended sentence and placed on probation for three years.

The pair were also ordered to pay Dh250,000 (US$68,000) in compensation to the family of the Belarusian victim, who died of kidney and liver failure at age 24. Prosecutors charged the doctor this month with causing the woman's death after he injected a gelatinous substance in her muscle tissue. The injection, court records showed, caused a bacterial infection. Two days after visiting the clinic, the victim sought treatment at two private hospitals.

The cosmetic specialist told prosecutors the patient returned to her clinic complaining of breast pain. She said she instructed the woman to go for a check-up. The plastic surgeon was also charged with practising medicine without a license. The cosmetic specialist had been charged with aiding and abetting the doctor by allowing him to use her clinic. They have two weeks to appeal the sentences.