MAKKAH/JEDDAH, 27 August 2007 — Authorities in Makkah have set up a high-level committee to investigate the death of a 40-year-old Pakistani mother of seven at a dental clinic in the city as a result of a medical error.
Makkah police have banned the doctor, the nurse and other staff involved in the case from traveling abroad until the investigation is completed.
Informed sources identified the dead woman as Shareefa Ali. “All employees at the clinic will be held until the committee completes its investigation,” said Dr. Hussein Ghanam, acting director of health affairs in Makkah.
According to the law, if a clinic is found guilty of causing the death of a patient, it must be fined and forced to pay blood money to the dead person’s relatives. The clinic will be closed down if the violation is repeated.
Police have taken the woman’s body away and completed preliminary investigations with the Arab doctor and nurse as well as other staff at the clinic, sources said. “We have handed over the case file to the Health Affairs Department in Makkah and have banned the clinic staff who were present at the time of the woman’s death from traveling abroad,” said Maj. Abdul Mohsen Al-Maiman, a spokesman for the Makkah police.
The woman’s husband, identified only as Haider, said his wife visited the clinic quite often for the treatment of toothache. “The last time when the pain intensified, I took her to the clinic. She became unconscious when the doctor gave her an analgesic shot. The medical team at the clinic did not check her blood pressure before giving the injection,” he pointed out.
Meanwhile, the medical committee in the Asir region recently fined a gynecologist at a hospital in Khamis Mushayt SR87,500 and an anesthesia consultant at the same hospital SR35,000 after the two were found guilty of causing a pregnant Saudi woman fall into a coma.
The committee announced the punishment after looking into the investigative report as well as the report of the College of Medicine at King Khaled University in Abha and after hearing the statements of Ali Al-Bariqi, the woman’s husband, and the doctors concerned.
The report showed that the medical team at the hospital was negligent in dealing with the woman’s condition while conducting an operation after her womb burst before reaching the hospital and she suffered hemorrhage.
The woman has been in a coma at the hospital since the incident took place about two years ago.
However, Al-Bariqi was not happy with the committee’s decision as he wanted the doctor to bear responsibility for 35 percent of the mistake. According to Al-Riyadh newspaper, the man has approached the Court of Grievances in Riyadh demanding more compensation.
