MAKKAH, 3 December 2003 — A Nigerian resident accused a private hospital here of killing his sister by leaving a cloth in her stomach after an operation.
Health Director Dr. Othman Maymani told Okaz Arabic daily a committee would be formed to investigate the woman’s death. Those responsible would face punishment, he added.
The woman’s brother said she felt a pain in her stomach and went to “a popular hospital” in Makkah, where doctors diagnosed a hernia, the paper said.
Following a Ramadan operation priced at SR12,000, the woman nonetheless continued to be in pain, but doctors merely prescribed painkillers.
When her condition deteriorated, she went to another hospital, where an X-ray revealed an object in her stomach. Doctors operated again and removed a cloth apparently left in the first operation.
However, the cloth had already damaged the stomach lining and led to blood poisoning, and the woman died 15 hours later, the paper added.
