Dubai: A court has ordered the closure of a private clinic following the death of a Belarusian woman who was admitted there for breast enlargement surgery.
The Dubai Misdemeanors Court jailed a French doctor for one year after he was convicted of unlawfully operating on the woman and being responsible for her death.
The court will confiscate the clinic's equipment.
Medical records said the kidneys and liver of the 24-year-old Belarusian, F.S., failed due to a bacterial contamination in her blood and she died after being given what prosecutors described as a "wrong injection".
Presiding Judge Ebrahim Khalil Abu Shamma, who pronounced Sunda, verdict, also handed a two-month suspended imprisonment to a Lebanese cosmetic specialist [who managed the clinic] for partly being responsible for the death by aiding and abetting the doctor.
The Frenchman, who was sentenced in absentia, and the Lebanese woman were each fined Dh3,000 and will jointly pay Dh200,000 in blood money to the victim's family.
Prosecutors had charged them with accidentally causing the woman's death after giving her a wrong injection.
Baseless
The defendants had denied what they described as the prosecutor's "baseless and groundless accusation" when they earlier defended themselves in court.
The Dubai Public Prosecution charged the doctor with causing the accidental death of F.S. after injecting her with a gelatin substance in the muscles and tissues of her breast.
The Frenchman was accused of practising medicine without obtaining a licence from the health authorities.
The cosmetic specialist was charged with aiding and abetting the doctor by allowing him to use her clinic and injecting the deceased with what prosecutors described as a "wrong injection".
Presiding Judge Abu Shamma mentioned in the verdict sheet: "According to articles 99 and 100 of Federal Penal Code, the court granted the Lebanese woman a lenient sentence after considering her age, ethics and the case's circumstances. The court believes that the cosmetic specialist will not repeat the crime and that's why her imprisonment will be suspended for three years [conditioning that during the three-year period she does not repeat the crime]."
Sunday's verdict is still subject to appeal within 15 days. Sources close to the case told Gulf News that the cosmetic specialist will appeal her sentence soon.
According to the primary judgment, the clinic will be shut down and the medical equipment will be confiscated as soon as the ruling becomes irrevocable.
