Girl, 9, awarded Dh150,000 compensation for failed cochlear implant

ABU DHABi // A cochlear device that had supposedly been implanted in a young patient was found in a bloody bag at a hospital several months after surgery had taken place.

The patient, a nine-year-old girl, is to be awarded Dh150,000 after the unsuccessful cochlear implantation in her right ear, a court ruled on Wednesday.

Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation upheld a ruling fining the doctor who performed the surgery, as well as his employer, Al Ittihad, the Arabic-language sister paper of The National reported.

The court heard that an investigation into the case found the defendant had opened and closed up the ear without implanting the device. This led to a delay in hearing loss treatment for the patient which in turn delayed speech and academic development. The patient also suffered physical and psychological damage.

The court also upheld a decision rejecting a claim made by the girl’s parents for Dh2 million in compensation for psychological damages caused.

The girl, who had suffered from hearing loss since birth, first underwent surgery for cochlear implants when she was two. After the the devices stopped working, in 2011, her parents took her to the medical facility in question.

Six months after her surgery was carried out, a specialist at the hospital found a plastic bag containing the bloody implant.

newsdesk@thenational.ae