Article 22 of the Saudi Private Health Institutions Law

This article determines the competent body to consider the liability of private health institutions for professional medical errors.

The body: the Medical Sharia Committee provided for in the Law of Practice of Human Medicine and Dentistry. The article does not create the committee but refers to a committee existing under another law, and it does not state its formation or procedures.

Subject of jurisdiction: the liability of private health institutions themselves for professional medical errors. The article deals with the institution's liability, not that of the doctor alone.

Type of claim: errors for which a claim is brought:

• As a private right, such as the patient's or his family's claim for compensation.
• Or as a public right.

The article therefore distinguishes between two things: administrative violations of the provisions of the Law of Private Health Institutions, punished under Article 21 by a fine, closure or withdrawal of the license; and professional medical errors, which fall to the Medical Sharia Committee under this article.

The article does not define what counts as a professional medical error, nor the time limits for filing a complaint, nor the amount of compensation.

It is followed by Article 23, which allows the committees considering violations to suspend the activity in question as a precaution when there is strong evidence of violations punishable by withdrawal of the license or closure.

Someone harmed by a medical error at a private health institution would do well to keep his medical reports and bills and consult a lawyer who specializes in civil cases and compensation to assess his position and the procedures for filing the claim.