What have UAE courts awarded for medical errors?

Each row in Table 1 is a ruling as reported by Gulf News, Khaleej Times, The National, Lexis Middle East, Al Tamimi & Company or Lexology, not the text of the judgment.^{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15}

Why does your claim need a committee report first?

Because the law requires one. Courts do not accept a compensation claim arising from medical liability until the matter has been referred to a Medical Liability Committee.¹⁶ Al Tamimi & Company reported that the Dubai Court of Cassation, in judgment 377 of 2025, called the complaint and the committee’s final report a mandatory precondition for any compensation claim.⁸

Courts in these reports relied on the committee’s findings. Khaleej Times reported that the Al Ain court called the committee’s report “final and binding”.⁷ Gulf News reported that the Dubai court in the misdiagnosis case refused to send the file back to the committee.³

Complain to the health authority before you think about court. The where to complain tool shows which authority covers your facility.

How do awards compare with the amounts you might claim?

In every case in Table 1 that gives both figures, the award was lower than the claim. A patient who lost about 80% of the use of a leg claimed Dh20 million and was awarded Dh1 million.⁴ A couple claimed Dh17.75 million and were awarded Dh7 million and Dh1 million.¹¹ A patient with laser burns claimed Dh2 million and was awarded Dh170,000.¹⁵

Awards in the reports cover material harm, such as treatment costs and the loss of a family’s main earner, and moral harm, such as emotional distress.^1,6

Keep an invoice or receipt for every cost the error caused you. The compensation page explains what a claim can cover.

Who pays you, the doctor or the hospital?

Often both, jointly, in shares that follow the committee’s findings. The committee decides each person’s share of the error.¹⁶ In the Abu Dhabi intensive care case it split responsibility 50% to the consultant and 50% to the hospital, which had let a general practitioner oversee critical cases.⁶ In the Dubai misdiagnosis case three doctors paid different amounts by degree of fault, and two medical centres were liable as their employers.³

A hospital can be liable for a doctor it does not employ. Khaleej Times reported that the Dubai court held a hospital liable because it provided facilities, equipment and nursing staff and referred patients to the doctor.⁴ Al Tamimi reported that the Court of Cassation found a medical centre liable through even a nominal supervisory link, and did not extend liability to the operating hospital, taking into account a clause in its agreement with the centre that excluded liability for the centre’s staff.⁸

Name the facility as well as each doctor when you complain.

What happens to your claim if the committee finds no error?

In the one reported case where that happened, the claim failed. Gulf News reported on 8 August 2025 that an Abu Dhabi court dismissed a Dh51,000 claim against a cosmetic surgeon and hospital after the DoH committee found no medical error. The court noted the patient had not challenged the report, and ordered her to pay all fees and expenses.¹³

A committee report becomes final if no grievance is filed within 30 days of being notified of it.¹⁶

If you disagree with a committee report, appeal within 30 days. The appeal page sets out how.

Can a court award your family more than blood money?

Yes. Diya for manslaughter is AED 200,000.¹⁷ Al Tamimi reported that the Dubai Court of Cassation, in judgment 377 of 2025, rejected an argument that compensation must be capped at diya or arsh, and held it may exceed them where the damage warrants.⁸

The civil law changed on 1 June 2026. The new Civil Transactions Law lets a court, on request, award compensation for material and moral harm that diya or arsh does not cover.¹⁸ The old law said diya or arsh was not payable in addition to compensation unless the parties agreed otherwise.¹⁹

Read the blood money page before you set the amount of a claim after a death.

Why might you see two figures for one Abu Dhabi case?

Because the reports differ. Gulf News headlined its 25 August 2025 report as a rise “from Dh1 million” to Dh1.4 million, while the same article and its 31 October 2025 report say the first court awarded Dh1.2 million.^5,6 A Lexis Middle East summary of the first report repeats both figures.²⁰ Table 1 shows both.

Read the article text as well as the headline when you compare awards.

The small print

The committee requirement is the last paragraph of Article 18 of Federal Decree-Law No. 4 of 2016. Article 20 makes a committee report final if no grievance is filed within 30 days, and Article 21 says the Higher Committee’s decision is final.¹⁶ Diya is set in Article 30 of the Crimes and Penalties Law, and the Cabinet may change it.¹⁷ The new rule on compensation beyond diya is Article 259(2) of Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025. The old rule was Article 299 of Federal Law No. 5 of 1985.^18,19

Reports disagree on whether a Higher Committee report can be challenged in court. Khaleej Times reported on 6 November 2024 that a Federal Supreme Court ruling of August 2024 allows judicial review of the committee’s findings, which “were previously final and unchallengeable”.²¹ Gulf News reported that the Federal Supreme Court in case 722 of 2025 described Supreme Committee decisions as administrative and open to judicial review.¹² Lexology reported the same court held that a reasoned committee report may be enough to establish liability without appointing a new expert.²²

Reports also disagree on whether a cosmetic surgeon owes a guaranteed result. Gulf News reported the court said cosmetic surgeons “must deliver the promised aesthetic outcome”.¹² Lexology reported that this obligation “arises only where the surgeon has made a clear promise” about the outcome.²²

In judgment 377 of 2025 the first court dismissed the attempt to join the insurer because it had not come through the procedure the law requires.⁸ In the Al Ain dental case the court said insurance disputes must first go to the insurance dispute committee.⁷ In the 2021 laser case an insurer was ordered to pay alongside the centre, doctor and nurse.¹⁵