The "Medical Responsibility" Committee attributes it to "lack of experience" and "inaccuracy."

230 medical complaints annually ... and 20 "wrong diagnoses"

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People find themselves victims of medical errors, or wrong diagnoses, due to doctor's inexperience, negligence, or other reasons.

Emirates Today has received complaints from people confirming that they have undergone such experiences, at a time when doctors advise not to rely on a single viewpoint in matters that require decisive medical procedures, such as surgeries.

As for cases in which medical complaints rise to the competent authorities, the Ministry of Health and Community Protection in it takes appropriate measures to ensure that the error actually exists or not, and the party or party responsible for it, if it is proven that it has occurred, and subsequently punish him according to the law.

The ministry confirmed to "Emirates Today" that the number of complaints it receives related to medical procedures and cases of poor diagnosis is 250 complaints annually, which is considered very simple if compared to the number of patients and visitors in government and private clinics and hospitals.

In turn, the State's Supreme Committee for Medical Responsibility stated that it is investigating many complaints related to poor diagnosis, which it attributed to the doctor’s lack of experience and the inaccuracy of the examination.

In detail, the patient, Ahmed Youssef, spent difficult days, after his doctor assured him that he had an enlarged heart muscle, as he flipped on the anxiety bed for long nights, and he conducted many researches via the Internet to know the nature of his illness and the risks surrounding him, and he did not believe himself when he saw another doctor He assured him that his symptoms were due to a slight increase in blood pressure.

He wondered what he would have had if he had kept on taking the previous prescription and had not knocked on the door of another clinic.

The same problem was repeated, despite the different details, with Bassem Ahmed, who received long treatment for the symptoms of "inflammation of the hemorrhoids", according to what his doctor confirmed to him.

When he returned to another doctor, after months of suffering, the new doctor assured him that his problem was caused by the colon, and that the previous doctor’s diagnosis was wrong.

Salma Muhammad said that she went to an orthopedic doctor in a private hospital because of neck pain, to be surprised by the doctor that she had a problem in the vertebrae that required urgent surgery.

For more accuracy, I went to another doctor, to be surprised by him assuring her that she did not need any surgeries, and that her recovery requires some medications, in addition to physical therapy.

Walid Ibrahim stated that he had been treated for a pain in his foot for a whole year, after his doctor assured him that the pain was caused by a slight sprain in his foot, but another doctor discovered the presence of an infection in the lower foot area, so it became clear that this is the real cause of the pain.

The Ministry of Health confirmed that it receives 250 complaints annually about various medical procedures, including about 20 complaints related to misdiagnosis from doctors.

She said that the number of complaints is considered small when compared to the number of patients and visitors to governmental and private clinics and hospitals.

She emphasized that it plays its role as a legislative health body to investigate and decide on complaints by forming specialized investigation committees in the field of complaint, to be determined by the Committees of "Medical Responsibility" and "Monitoring of Medical Practices."

She explained that she presents the complaints to specialized committees to investigate them, and to determine the party responsible for committing the medical error if it is proven to have occurred.

She added that «poor diagnosis is a type of medical error, because it contributes to treatment, and if it is correct it leads to a cure. As for its lack of accuracy, it prevents the patient’s health from improving.

In the event that the doctor is proven wrong in the diagnosis of the patient, the procedures listed in Federal Law No. (5) of 2019 regarding the regulation of the practice of the profession of human medicine shall be taken.

She said that informing the patient or his family of complications that may result from diagnosis, medical treatment, or surgical intervention is one of the doctor's most important tasks.

For his part, the head of the Supreme Committee for Medical Responsibility, Dr. Abdul Razzaq Madani, affirmed that the committee is investigating many complaints related to medical misdiagnoses that result in severe damage unnecessarily to patients.

He explained that “medical misdiagnosis cannot be included under the umbrella of medical errors except after reviewing the data on which the doctor relied in diagnosing the case and determining his treatment plan, and if the data were sound and logical, then the case is not diagnosed as a medical error, and the opposite happens if the data were illogical".

He pointed out that the main causes of poor diagnosis are the doctor’s lack of experience, and the inaccuracy in conducting the examination, stressing that "the doctor bears full responsibility in the event that the patient has any serious complications."

Al-Madani advised patients to consult more than one doctor in the event of failure to respond to the treatment provided by the first doctor, which is what they must do also in the event that surgery is required to ensure that it is necessary, and that it is necessary to complete the treatment.

He pointed out that the problems resulting from poor medical diagnosis include taking the wrong medicines for long periods of time, and performing unnecessary operations.

A public health and community medicine specialist, spokesperson for the Emirates Public Health Association, Dr. Saif Darwish, said that the issues of medical misdiagnosis are related to the health system in general, indicating that the insurance system plays a role in monitoring the work of doctors, as it requires a surgical operation to conduct tests. Medical care that confirms the need for it, as well as the case with the system followed in government hospitals, as it requires the patient to pass by the family doctor first, then refer him to the specialist doctor after examining him and making sure of his need for that.

He suggested to the health authorities to classify doctors and clinics as a "star system", according to their history of dealing with patients, and evaluating patients for them, to serve as a reference for patients.

For his part, lawyer Muhammad Al-Najjar said that the doctor does not bear legal responsibility unless he deviates in his behavior from the behavior of a doctor of his professional level, or when he violates the established scientific principles in the science of medicine, taking into account the external circumstances surrounding him, and criminal responsibility does not It meets with the doctor in the event of a poor medical diagnosis if he takes into account the scientific principles recognized in the science of medicine in his diagnosis.

According to Al-Najjar, there is a difference between a medical error and a misdiagnosis, as the first is considered a negligence in the behavior of the doctor, which arranges his responsibility as a result of his breach of the obligation that he has assumed, as defined by Federal Law No. 10 regarding medical liability as “it is the error due to ignorance of technical matters. It is assumed that everyone who practices the profession is familiar with it, or who is due to negligence or lack of necessary care.

"The number of complaints related to medical procedures and cases of poor diagnosis is very small compared to the number of patients and visitors."

"A patient receives (heart) medication to treat a slight increase in blood pressure."

"A sprain causes severe pain ... and the second diagnosis detects an infection."

Medical error and misdiagnosis

Lawyer Muhammad al-Najjar said: “Medical misdiagnosis is a failure in the process of identifying a disease or condition that explains a person’s symptoms and signs. Usually, information required for diagnosis is gathered from the medical history and physical examination of the medical care seeker.”

Al-Najjar added that “a medical error is a mistake in determining the treatment method that should be followed to treat a specific condition, or the doctor’s deviation from the natural course of the way to treat a disease, and its contravention of scientific principles. As for the poor diagnosis, it is the error in identifying pathogens, which is used to improve treatment and avoid the side effects of drugs. The poor medical diagnosis does not necessarily harm the patient, as it may result from poor diagnosis, lack of progress in treatment and persistence of symptoms, and medical error may result in damage to the patient’s health, and further deterioration of his health.

He pointed out that the penalties prescribed for medical error in accordance with Federal Decree Law No. 4 of 2016 regarding medical liability in accordance with Article 34 of the same law are that “he shall be punished with imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year and a fine not exceeding 200 thousand dirhams or one of these two penalties, whoever proves Committing a serious medical error as stipulated in this Decree-Law, and the penalty is imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years and a fine not exceeding 500 thousand dirhams or either of these two penalties, if the serious medical error results in the death of a person, and the penalty is imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years and the fine That does not exceed one million dirhams if the crime stipulated in the first paragraph of this article was committed under the influence of drunkenness or anesthesia.

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