Couple awarded BD 30,000 after medical error; appeal rejected

TDT | Manama

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

The Constitutional Court has dismissed a claim by a private hospital and a medical consultant, leaving intact a civil judgment ordering them to pay a couple BD 30,000 after a medical error caused the wife’s uterine rupture. The Court also ordered the applicants to cover legal costs. The hospital and consultant had requested that the Court rely on precedents from other constitutional cases to overturn the earlier decisions.

The case began when the couple sought pregnancy treatment at the hospital. The consultant recommended in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) and embryo transfer; three embryos were implanted, and a cervical stitch was placed to support the pregnancy. After three months, complications arose: the wife’s uterus ruptured, causing heavy bleeding. She was rushed to Salmaniya Medical Complex in a critical condition, underwent life-saving surgery, and later required a hysterectomy.

Following the incident, the couple filed a complaint with the National Health Regulatory Authority. Its panel found serious professional errors by both the doctor and the hospital, resulting in severe harm: the wife’s loss of fertility, risk to her life, financial costs of fertilisation and treatment, and the loss of the three embryos.

Based on these findings, a civil court ordered the doctor and hospital to pay the couple BD 30,000. With the Constitutional Court’s dismissal of the latest claim, the civil judgment stands and will proceed accordingly.