Dubai: A court has ordered the closure of a hospital after a health inspector discovered three unlicensed Asian suspects practising medicine.
The trio were each fined Dh10,000 on Wednesday.
The Dubai Misdemeanours Court convicted the trio of practising medicine without obtaining the required permits and licences from health regulators.
Prosecutors levelled a list of charges against five Asian suspects aged between 26 and 50 and the hospital.
The charges included practising unlicensed medicine, working in the medical field without obtaining the required permits, endangering people’s lives and aiding and abetting a crime.
Penalties
“The court has fined the first, second and third defendants Dh10,000 each. The hospital [represented by the second defendant] has been fined Dh20,000.
"The licences of the second and third defendants [to work in the medical field] are to be considered terminated and their names will be barred from the medical registry. The hospital will be shut down while all the equipment related to the case will be confiscated,” said the presiding judge in courtroom four on Wednesday.
A fourth and a fifth suspect, a worker and a doctor, were acquitted of any wrongdoing.
According to available prosecution records, a health inspector discovered that the defendants were practising medicine without a licence at the hospital and without obtaining the required permits during a random inspection.
The inspector reported the matter to the authorities in January.
Records said the case was referred to the Public Prosecution in March.
The five suspects entered a not guilty plea and strongly refuted their accusations.
Wednesday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
