Dubai’s botched nose-job doctor gets one-year in jail
Operation has left 25-year-old Emirati woman in a coma
Dubai: A medic who conducted a nose-job that left an Emirati woman in a coma, has been sentenced to one year in jail, a Dubai Misdemeanour Court heard on Wednesday.
The ENT (ear, nose and throat) surgeon, anaesthetist and the anaesthetist’s assistant were referred to court for alleged mistakes that led to the permanent disability of 25-year-old Rawdha Abdullah Al Maeeni.
All were sentenced to one year in jail to be followed by deportation. The medical center was fined Dh300,000.
Dubai Public Prosecution checked the medical reports, questioned the suspects and the witnesses for several months until the final medical report presented to the investigation team on November 20, 2019, which confirmed that the medical staff committed a medical mistake.
Investigations revealed that the incident happened on April 23, 2019, when Rawdha, a first year master’s student of hospital management, checked into a Dubai centre for a rhinoplasty as she had difficulties in breathing.
Prosecution said that the ENT doctor told her that she suffered from septotlasty and he did the surgery in a one-day surgery centre which wasn’t qualified to conduct such surgeries. He did the surgery with the anaesthetist and anaesthetist’s assistant.
The investigation confirmed that medical staff committed a serious medical mistake which resulted in multiple disabilities, according to the medical report by the higher committee for medical responsibility at Dubai Health Authority (DHA).
Rawdha suffered a cardiac arrest on the operating table and the investigative report stated that her brain had been deprived of oxygen for a full seven minutes.
Time line
- April 23, 2019: Rawdha Abdulla Al Maeeni checks into a day care surgery centre for a septoplasty. The surgery, which was to last two hours, stretches to six hours and the patient slips into a coma.
- April 23 evening: Patient is rushed to Prime Hospital where doctors attempt to revive her.
- April 24: Patient airlifted to Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi where she remained in intensive care.
- June 20: Patient airlifted to a hospital in Chicago, US, for long-term treatment. His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, offered to cover her medical expenses in the US.
- November 20: prosecution received final medical report
- January 2, 2020: Case referred to Dubai Criminal Court
- January 20, 2020: First hearing at Dubai Criminal Court.
- March 18,2020: Medical staff and the center found guilty at Dubai Criminal Court.