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Compensation Claims
What UAE Law Guarantees for Victims of Medical Errors
Medical error compensation in the UAE is a right guaranteed by law to every patient who suffers harm through the error of a doctor or a health facility, and it covers material harm, moral harm and lost earnings. But it is not paid simply because harm occurred, and it has no fixed amount. The law requires the Medical Liability Committee to establish the error first, and the civil court then assesses the compensation case by case.
The danger is that many injured patients have a valid right and lose it through procedure. Some bring a compensation claim directly and it stalls. Some miss the time limit for a grievance against the committee's report, which then becomes final against them. Some accept a small sum from the clinic and sign a waiver. Others wait until their claim is time-barred.
In this article we explain what UAE law guarantees for victims of medical errors, the conditions for compensation, how much it is and who pays it, and where our firm stands with you at each stage. It is part of our series on Compensation Cases in the UAE.
What does UAE law guarantee for the victim of a medical error?
The Medical Liability Law, its Executive Regulations and the Civil Transactions Law give the patient rights that begin before treatment and continue after the harm occurs:
The right to care in line with professional standards
The doctor must exercise due care, follow recognised professional standards, and work within the limits of his specialty and licence.
The right to information and consent
A surgical operation is carried out only after its nature, success rate and possible complications have been explained and written consent obtained. This is set out in detail in Medical Malpractice Lawyer in the UAE: When Does Lack of Informed Consent Constitute Medical Error?
The right to the medical file
The patient is entitled to a detailed medical report and a copy of his file, and the facility is obliged to hand them over. This file is the basis of any claim.
The right to complain before a neutral body
The error is decided by a committee of specialist doctors at the health authority, not by the doctor complained against or the facility.
The right to full compensation
Every harm done to another obliges the person who caused it to compensate, and compensation covers the harm suffered, the earnings lost and moral harm.
The right to a party able to pay
Insurance against liability for medical errors is compulsory, and the facility is liable for the errors of those who work for it.
What are the conditions for medical error compensation in the UAE?
The right to compensation arises only if four things are present together, and the absence of one is enough for the claim to be rejected:
Condition 1
A medical error in the legal sense
What happened must result from ignorance of technical matters, failure to follow professional standards, failure to exercise due care, or negligence and lack of caution. Unsuccessful treatment alone is not an error.
Condition 2
Actual harm
Physical, material or moral harm actually suffered by the patient, or a death for which the heirs and close relatives claim.
Condition 3
A causal link
The harm must result from the error, not from the patient's original illness or his own act. This is the point on which most claims are rejected.
Condition 4
The Medical Liability Committee's report
A compensation claim is not accepted until the matter has been referred to and put before the medical liability committees. The report is a condition for the claim to be accepted, not merely a piece of evidence in it.
This is why our firm begins by reading the medical file in the light of these four conditions, and tells the client frankly where the strengths and weaknesses lie before he bears the cost of the complaint and the lawsuit.
When is the patient not entitled to compensation?
The law also protects the doctor, and medical liability does not arise in cases it defines. Knowing them early saves the injured party a losing route:
Recognised complications
If the harm is one of the medical effects and complications known in medical practice and not the result of an error.
The patient's own act
If the harm occurred because of the patient's act, his refusal of treatment or his failure to follow medical instructions.
A recognised medical method
If the doctor followed a method that differs from that of others in the specialty, as long as it is consistent with recognised medical standards.
Even where the error is proved, the court may reduce the compensation if the injured party contributed by his own act to causing the harm or made it worse.
How much is medical error compensation in the UAE?
There is no table and no minimum or maximum. The court assesses compensation by the harm and the earnings lost, provided they are a natural result of the error. Any figure quoted before the file is read is mere guesswork. Judgments reported by local newspapers include:
AED 100,000
A judgment in Abu Dhabi against an eye doctor and a medical centre for a non-gross medical error
AED 800,000
A judgment in Dubai against a cosmetic facility for a cosmetic error by a visiting doctor
The gap between the two judgments shows the rule: the amount follows the seriousness of the harm, not the name of the case. The assessment takes into account:
Physical harm and the percentage of disability
The medical committee determines the percentage of disability in the affected organ, one of the main things the court relies on.
Material harm
Treatment costs already paid and still to be paid, corrective operations, and income lost through disability or absence from work.
Moral harm
Pain, disfigurement and the psychological and social effect. It may also be awarded to the spouse and to relatives up to the second degree for what they suffer because of the injured person's disability or death.
Harm that worsens after judgment
If the extent of the harm cannot be finally determined, the court may reserve for the injured party the right to ask for the assessment to be reviewed.
What actually raises or lowers the amount is proof. An invoice that was not kept, income that was not documented or a psychological report that was not requested are all elements the court does not award because they were never put before it. That is why our firm builds the claim element by element, each with its documents.
Who pays medical error compensation: the doctor, the facility or the insurer?
The doctor
He is liable for his personal error, and where several people are at fault each answers for the share of participation determined by the committee.
The health facility
It is liable for harm caused by its subordinate in the course of, or because of, his duties, which in practice includes a visiting doctor working inside it. The court may hold those responsible jointly liable.
The insurance company
The law prohibits practising the profession without insurance against civil liability for medical errors, and the facility must insure its practitioners. If the company refuses to pay, see Why Insurance Companies Deny Claims: Legal Paths for Victims.
Choosing whom to sue is not a detail. Leaving out the facility or the insurer may end in a sound judgment with no one to enforce it against, which is why the firm identifies the defendants before the case is registered, not after judgment.
The route to compensation: from complaint to judgment
The route is the same in every emirate because the law is federal, and each stage builds on the one before it:
Complaint
Before the competent health authority
It is submitted to the health authority of the emirate where the error occurred, with a defined subject and the documents attached. What is not raised in the complaint is not examined by the committee. Our firm drafts it on the basis of the full medical file.
Report
The Medical Liability Committee
The committee decides whether there was an error, how serious it is, who is responsible, the causal link and the percentage of disability, within 30 days of referral, which may be extended.
Grievance
The Higher Medical Liability Committee
Within 30 days of notification of the report, failing which it becomes final. The Higher Committee's report is final. Our firm studies the report as soon as it is issued and prepares the grievance within its time limit.
Lawsuit
The civil court and enforcement
The compensation claim is brought against the doctor, the facility and anyone else who must be joined, and enforcement is then followed. If the error is gross, a separate criminal route arises that does not affect your right to compensation.
If the error occurred in a cosmetic procedure, it has particular features that we explained in Medical Error in Cosmetic Surgery in Dubai: Complaint or Compensation?
Mistakes that defeat or reduce compensation
Signing a waiver or settlement
The law allows a settlement at any stage, and a settlement of the criminal case does not affect civil compensation. But loosely drafted wording may be read as a waiver of everything. Do not sign before your lawyer has reviewed it.
Giving up because of the form signed before treatment
The opposite is true: any clause exempting from, or reducing, liability for a harmful act is void. Do not abandon your right in the belief that your signature ended it.
Missing the grievance period
Only 30 days from notification of the committee's report, after which the report becomes final even if it is against you.
Limitation
A compensation claim is not heard after 3 years from the day of learning of the harm and of the person responsible, nor after 15 years from the act in all cases. Do not assume that the complaint stops time running; that is for your lawyer to calculate. Details are in Statute of Limitations in the UAE: When Do You Lose Your Right to Claim?
Loss of evidence
Corrective treatment before the condition is documented, or a medical file not requested in time, weakens proof of the causal link.
What do we review with you before the claim?
Are the four conditions met?
Error, harm, causal link, and the ability to prove them before the committee. We tell you frankly before any step.
Where did the error occur?
The emirate determines the health authority that receives the complaint and the competent court.
Which elements of harm are documented?
Reports, invoices, proof of income, and a medical assessment of the present condition.
Who are the defendants?
The doctor, the facility and the insurance company, and the licensing status of each at the time of the event.
Where do we stand on the time limits?
The date of the event, the date you learned of the harm, and the date of notification of the committee's report, if issued.
Legal references
Federal Decree-Law No. 4 of 2016 on Medical Liability, as amended
Cabinet Decision No. 40 of 2019 on the Executive Regulations of Federal Decree-Law No. 4 of 2016
Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025 issuing the Civil Transactions Law
Federal Law No. 5 of 2019 regulating the Practice of the Human Medicine Profession
Federal Law No. 4 of 2015 on Private Health Facilities, as amended
Frequently asked questions about medical error compensation in the UAE
Medical error compensation in Dubai
AWADH ALMHEIRI LAW FIRM AND LEGAL CONSULTATIONS is registered in Dubai and with the Ministry of Justice, and handles medical error compensation files from the complaint before the Dubai Health Authority and the grievance against the Medical Liability Committee's report to the compensation claim before the Dubai Courts and enforcement of the judgment. To learn about our services: Law Firm in Dubai: Comprehensive Legal Services for Individuals and Companies.
The other emirates
The rules on medical error compensation are the same in every emirate, while the authority that receives the complaint differs: the Department of Health in Abu Dhabi, and the Ministry of Health and Prevention and the local health authorities in Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah. The firm handles complaints and compensation claims before these authorities and their courts.
