What can you do if cosmetic surgery or treatment went wrong?

Where do you complain about cosmetic treatment?

To the same health authority as for any other treatment. Use the complaint finder to see which authority licensed the clinic. The authority’s Medical Liability Committee decides whether there was an error and how serious it was.¹

Gulf News reported on 8 August 2025 that an Abu Dhabi court dismissed a Dh51,000 claim from a woman unhappy with parts of her cosmetic result, after the Department of Health Abu Dhabi (DoH) committee found no medical error. The court noted she had not challenged the committee report, and ordered her to pay the costs.²

You or the doctor can challenge a committee report within 30 days of being notified of it.¹ The appeal page explains how.

Does a cosmetic surgeon owe you more than other doctors?

Yes, according to reports of a 2025 Federal Supreme Court ruling. Gulf News reported that in case No. 722/2025, decided on 1 September 2025 after a patient died following body contouring, the court said: “The surgeon must select methods suited to the defect or deformity and ensure the patient’s condition after surgery is better than before.”³ It also reported the court as saying that elective procedures must not go ahead if the risks outweigh the potential benefits, even with the patient’s consent.³

The reports differ on whether a result is guaranteed. Gulf News wrote that cosmetic surgeons “must deliver the promised aesthetic outcome”.³ Alsuwaidi & Company, writing on Lexology on 17 September 2025, said the duty to achieve a result “arises only where the surgeon has made a clear promise”, explicitly or impliedly.⁴

Keep every message, brochure, quote and consent form that shows what the clinic told you to expect. The consent page covers what you should have been told.

Who is allowed to give you Botox, fillers or laser?

Licensed professionals, within limits that Dubai and Abu Dhabi each set.

In Dubai, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) standard in force from 18 February 2025 says:⁵

• non-surgical cosmetic services should be provided in DHA-licensed hospitals, day surgical centres or outpatient clinics permitted to offer plastic surgery or dermatology;⁵
• procedures needing sedation or general anaesthesia may be done only in hospitals or day surgical centres;⁵
• a general practitioner needs at least two years’ clinical experience, a one-year mentorship under a dermatologist or plastic surgeon, and a privilege for the procedure;⁵
• nurses, physiotherapists, massage and beauty therapists may do only a limited list of procedures, prescribed by a DHA-licensed dermatologist or plastic surgeon;⁵
• beauty and massage therapists may do a limited list in a salon without supervision, but not laser hair removal, IPL or microneedling.⁵

In Abu Dhabi, the DoH standard effective January 2025 requires an active DoH licence in a listed category, a logbook of at least 20 procedures performed independently, privileges from the facility, and a separate DoH permission applied for through TAMM.⁶ Aestheticians (beauty therapists) may perform certain procedures only under the supervision of a licensed and privileged consultant or specialist physician.⁶

Check the practitioner’s licence before treatment with the licence check guide.

Which titles should make you check the licence?

Titles that are not on a licence. The DHA standard says practitioners must not use titles different from their DHA licence, such as Cosmetic Specialist or Consultant, Aesthetic Specialist or Consultant, Aesthetician, Cosmetologist, Beauty Specialist or Consultant, Anti-Aging Specialist or Consultant, or Cosmetic or Beauty Expert.⁵ The DoH standard says titles such as “cosmetic specialist”, “cosmetologist” and “anti-aging specialist” are not recognised and cannot be used.⁶

Compare the title on the advert or clinic door with the title on the licence register.

What may a clinic tell you in its adverts?

In Dubai, the DHA social media advertising standard sets these rules:⁷

• a facility’s official account must show its medical advertisement licence number issued by the Ministry of Health and Prevention;⁷
• terms such as “safest”, “assured success”, “100%”, “has no side effects” and “immediate results” must not be used;⁷
• anyone shown in an advert must have given documented consent;⁷
• before-and-after images must be of the same person, with the same lens and no editing, and must carry the line “there is no guarantee that the result will be the same, as it might vary from one individual to another”;⁷
• surgery under general anaesthesia must not be filmed or streamed to promote the facility or the practitioner.⁷

Federal law says a physician may not advertise himself, directly, through an agent or by any other means, though he may publicise himself or his clinic under conditions set by regulation.⁸ In Dubai, publishing health promotion without DHA authorisation is a prohibited act.⁹

Take screenshots of any advert or post you relied on, with the date.

What if your clinic was not licensed?

Practising without a licence is a crime. Federal law sets imprisonment and/or a fine of AED 200,000 to AED 2,000,000.⁸ Khaleej Times reported on 14 August 2025 that Dubai Police, working with DHA, arrested three women for running an illegal clinic from a residential apartment, after a raid found medical equipment and unlicensed medicines.¹⁰

Report illegal medical activity in Dubai to Dubai Police through its Police Eye service or on 901.¹⁰

How often do committees find errors in cosmetic surgery like yours?

Cosmetic surgery made up 9% of medical errors in the past year, the chairman of the Supreme Committee for Medical Liability said in July 2026. Dentistry was 32%, obstetrics and gynaecology 19%, neurosurgery 11% and orthopaedics 10%.¹¹

The statistics guide has the appeal figures by year.

What have courts decided in cases like yours?

Table 1 lists cosmetic cases reported in the press and by a law firm.^3,4,2,12,13

The court awards guide has more rulings.

The small print

• Case 722/2025. Gulf News reports the court also said Supreme Committee for Medical Liability decisions are administrative and open to judicial review.³ Alsuwaidi & Company reports that the court said it had no jurisdiction to review the suspension decision, and that a reasoned Higher Committee report may be enough to establish liability without a new expert.⁴
• DHA standard. Clauses 5.2 (facilities), 7.2 (titles), 7.4 (sedation and anaesthesia), 7.10 (general practitioners) and 7.11 (nurses and therapists).⁵
• DoH standard. Clauses 3.2.1 to 3.2.5 (who may perform procedures) and 4.1.2 (titles).⁶
• Advertising. DHA standard clauses 5.2, 6.10, 6.11, 9.6 and 9.7.⁷ Federal Law No. 5 of 2019, Article 19 (advertising) and Article 25 (practising without a licence).⁸ Dubai Executive Council Resolution No. 49 of 2024, Schedule 4, item 43.⁹