KUWAIT CITY, May 24: The Court of Appeals upheld the ruling of the Court of First Instance, which ordered the Ministry of Health to pay KD45,000 to a female citizen as final compensation for damages, disability, and bodily harm resulting from a medical error during childbirth at a government hospital. The plaintiff demanded compensation for the material and moral damages she suffered and for the disability (estimated at 20 percent of her total body capacity ) caused by medical errors during her delivery at the hospital.

Attorney Mishari Sulaiman Al-Marzouq, lawyer of the plaintiff, said the Medical Liability Authority report concluded that three doctors affiliated with the Ministry of Health committed medical and professional errors, with disciplinary sanctions imposed on them. Al-Marzouq explained that his client suffered material damages, including a longer stay in the hospital and the expense of purchasing medications and painkillers after her discharge. “She also suffered a degree of disability and moral damages as a result of the significant reduction in her chances of becoming pregnant in the future. The medical reports concluded that the medical errors affected his client’s uterus, causing disability and a partial loss of its function. The subsequent pregnancy will be extremely risky; hence, the need for compensation.”

By Jaber Al-Hamoud

Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff