Unlicensed medical practitioners are in for trouble
FNC PASSES DRAFT LAW THAT APPLIES TO FREE ZONES TOO
The Federal National Council (FNC) yesterday passed a federal draft law regulating the practice of medicine. It applies to anyone who engages, or requests to practise medicine In the UAE, including free zones, and aims to protect society from illegal practices.
According to the legislation, which requires the signature of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to become law, no person may practise medicine unless accredited by a health authority.
The law spells out conditions to obtain a licence, procedures for requesting a licence, appeal against rejection of application as well as cases when a licence can be revoked.
The Ministry of Health and Prevention and other health authorities have their own registers of licensed physicians.
Under the draft law, a person seeking to practise medicine should be a physician holding a a baccalaureate degree in medicine from an accredited institution and should have also completed a training period after obtaining the degree.
The draft law states that the resident doctor is subject to licensing regulations specified in the executive regulations.
It states that a trainee physician must be insured against civil liability for medical errors. The ministry shall issue the Code of Ethics in coordination with health authorities.
Penalties
According to the draft, a person who carries out the medical profession without obtaining a licence or submits false data resulting in obtaining a licence, will have the licence and the medical designation cancelled.
The draft law specifies offences which include practising medicine in an unauthorised place except in cases determined by the regulation, selling drugs or samples to patients, and earning any income from any pharmacy, laboratory, other doctor or medical facility to take advantage of their services.
Offenders face a prison term and a fine of not less than Dh200,000 and not more than Dh2 million. They will also be removed from the doctors’ register.
A fine of not less than Dh20,000 and not more than Dh1 million shall be imposed on a doctor who contravenes the provisions
relating to the medical report and medical file regulations.
Disciplinary actions include suspension of licence for a period not exceeding a year and the revocation of the licence. Appeals can be made to the grievance committee within 15 days from the date of the action.
The draft law shall be published in the official gazette and will take effect 30 days later. The executive rules of the law shall be issued six months after it is published in the gazette.