Dubai court awards Dh2m to family after woman dies during childbirth
Four doctors convicted of gross medical negligence, hospital held jointly liable
A Dubai civil court has ordered a private hospital and four of its doctors to pay Dh2 million in compensation to the husband and two children of a Gulf woman who died during childbirth, after finding they committed a gross medical error that led directly to her death.
The ruling follows a final criminal judgment that convicted the four doctors of gross medical negligence, fined each Dh50,000 and ordered them to pay Islamic blood money to the deceased woman’s heirs. The civil court said it was bound by the criminal ruling on the existence and attribution of medical error.
According to court papers the woman, who was pregnant with her second child through in-vitro fertilisation, required special care due to the sensitivity of her condition, Emarat Al Youm reported. After giving birth, she suffered severe post-partum bleeding that was not handled with the required speed or competence, leading to a rapid deterioration in her condition and her death.
A report by Dubai’s Higher Committee for Medical Liability concluded that the care provided fell below accepted medical standards and that the failure to manage the bleeding in time was the direct cause of death, describing the conduct as negligence rather than unavoidable complications.
The court held that the hospital bore vicarious liability for the actions of its doctors and ruled that the family’s losses were not only financial but also moral and psychological. Compensation was apportioned among the defendants according to their degree of fault.
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