UAE: After Woman Dies In Cosmetic Surgery, Court Sets New Rules For Surgeons

UAE's Federal Supreme Court has established a new rule regarding the liability of plastic surgeons.

The ruling clarifies that since cosmetic surgeries are not an urgent medical procedure, the doctor is liable for any negligence in medical conduct.

This comes after a case involving a woman's death due to the doctor's failure to provide utmost medical care to achieve the desired outcome of the patient's body reshaping procedure. The doctor was found to have deviated from the accepted medical principles and standards for such surgeries.

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Under the new ruling, the surgeon must not proceed with surgery if its risks are not proportionate to the benefit obtained from it, even if he or she obtains the patient's consent.

The doctor will be considered to be at fault if he or she uses treatment methods that lead to risks disproportionate to the purpose the patient expected to achieve, unless the relationship between his action and the harm caused is negated.

This ruling was issued by the Administrative Chamber of the court, chaired by Judge Mohammed Abdulrahman Al Jarrah and including Judges Dawood Ibrahim Abu Al Shawareb and Dr Hassan Mohammed Hassan Hind, at its session on September 1 in Appeal No. 722 of 2025 Administrative.

The plastic surgeon's responsibility is to achieve the desired goal of plastic surgery, along with providing the necessary care in order to heal the patient, the court ruled.

The court further clarified that the plastic surgeon is obligated to provide greater care than other doctors, since the purpose is to correct the patient's physical defects, not to save his life from a danger to which he is exposed.

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