nacnac
Thanks for the reply dee7o. I will try contact the Ministry and Dept. of Health. Hopefully I can get something sorted.
Cheers!
nacnac
Hi there - I just found this forum on Google. Well where do I start..??
I was wondering if anyone on this forum could perhaps help or offer some much needed advice. Here is a summary of my story.
I moved to Dubai in November '07 to start a new job. A few days after my arrival I became ill and and I was referred to a top International Hospital in Dubai by my travel insurance company (the name of the hospital will remain undisclosed at the moment). I was diagnosed by a doctor and had to undergo emergency surgery to sort my problem out. All went well and I seemed to be making a full recovery.
About 2 weeks after my op I started feeling ill and had really bad fever and pain. I returned to the hospital and the doctor (specialist) who had operated on me was on leave. I was referrred to to A&E at the hospital wher a doctor saw me and prescribed pain killers and antibiotics. He said I probably had an infection from my initial operation. Two days later I felt even worse so I went back to the hospital. Another doctor checked me and prescribed different painkillers and antibiotics - his diagnosis being similar to what the 1st doctor had said. The next day things were even worse for me - I was in extreme pain and exactly the same thing happened at the hospital. No x-rays were taken and no internal examination was done. Just more drugs were prescribed.
At that stage I was in so much pain and discomfort that I decided to return to my home country, South Africa, to see my own doctor. I booked a flight and took a bunch of painkillers and headed for home. When I arrived I was in really bad shape. I could hardly walk and I had a really bad fever. I headed for the hospital and saw a doctor. He called a specialist who examined me and realised that something was amiss.
I went into theatre where an internal camera examination was done. The specialist realised that I was in really bad shape and he sent me for a CT Scan. The results showed that my colon had been punctured by the nurse who had given me an enema in the Dubai hospital before my op. The bad news was that I had advanced septicema and my doc said that if I had not come home and been diagnosed I would have died within a week. Needless to say I was rushed into an emergency operation. There began my very long process for recovery. I ended up going into theatre 14 times during the next 7 months and I was in extreme pain and discomfort most of that time. I had to wear a colostomy bag and my life was turned upside down.
Since my last op in August 08 I have been trying to find out about Medical Malpractice cases in Dubai. The response from law firms in the UAE has been virtually non existent.
My question is - does anyone know if it is possible to sue for Medical Malpractice in Dubai and if so can you please offer any advice on whom to contact?? I have all the proof and documentation to prove all the facts stated above.
I look forward to any positve responses. :)
dee7o
Very sorry to hear about your story. Seriously, colon puncture with an enema is close to impossible. I have heard of them happening with metal enemas, never with newer plastic or silicon ones. I am not faulting your story but the nurse must have been an absolute imbecile for this to happen (and in this country, that is quite likely). I hope you are not still having to live with a colostomy and if you are, hopefully it is not permanent.
Anyway, you definitely have a strong case. Colon was probably punctured pre-operatively and you were wrongly diagnosed multiple times. To tell you the truth, the mistaken diagnosis is probably not totally the physicians' faults. It is an logical assumption to make that a person suffering from fever and pain is experiencing post-op infection. Also, it is not a given that anyone presenting with post-op fever should be investigated using a CT scan. That being said, doctors here have a bad habit of dismissing serious complications with the simplest and most mundane of explanations. This is normal and expected given the fact that their compensation model is not based on hourly work but rather on the number of patients they treat (dispense with !). They work on what is essentially commission and so their priority is to decrease the time they need to spend with you.
Have you tried contacting the Ministry of Health or the Department of Health in Dubai? They can probably advise you on what steps to take.
nacnac
Hi dee7o - I seem to making some positive progress on this. I have a lawyer from SA working on the case with a firm in Dubai. Am holding thumbs that I can get some form of finacial compensation. Hopefully I can get an out of court settlement. Will keep you posted.
Cheers!!! :thumbright: