JEDDAH, 1 August 2006 — The Riyadh Court of Appeals is currently looking into a complaint by a Saudi against a Jeddah-based government doctor and the hospital he worked. The plaintiff says negligence would have permanently crippled his daughter had it not been for the treatment she received abroad.
Abdullah Al-Shamarani, father of an 11-year-old girl suffering from an undisclosed spinal condition, is suing for SR300,000 in damages, the sum he had to pay to a hospital in Germany for corrective surgery.
Al-Shamarani says the failure of the hospital and the doctor to perform corrective surgery in a timely manner exacerbated his daughter’s condition.
The court is expected shortly to set a hearing date for the hospital to clarify its stance on the matter.
Al-Shamarani said that doctors initially said the girl would require surgery to stabilize her spinal column, and that periodic surgeries would be required as she grew. Because of the cost of the procedures, the man took his daughter to the public hospital.
The plaintiff says the doctor kept delaying the procedure until it was too late to undergo the treatment prescribed. The father then had to take his daughter to a specialist hospital in Germany for more intensive treatment.
A medical commission found no negligence on behalf of the doctor, but Al-Shamarani decided to file a lawsuit to recoup the cost of the treatment in Germany.
