The official said the committees held 2,302 sessions and issued 266 decisions out of which 53.4 percent found doctors and medical personnel to be responsible while 46.6 percent acquitted them.

The official said Makkah region, with 500 cases, topped all the other areas in the Kingdom while Riyadh, with 430 cases came in second place and the eastern Al-Ahsa region, 39 cases, came at the bottom of the list.

According to the official, the number of doctors and medical personnel found guilty of medical malpractice was highest in Makkah region.

A report issued by the Health Affairs Department in Makkah said there are 18 Shariah medical committees in the Kingdom each headed by a Shariah judge. The report said the Shariah medical committee of Makkah region held 75 sessions to consider complaints of medical malpractice against a number of public and private hospitals and doctors by the families and relatives of patients who died due to medical mistakes.

According to the report, the Makkah committee issued verdicts in seven cases and awarded financial compensations between SR1,000 and SR50,000 in four cases, SR100,000 and SR500,000 in two cases and SR500,000 and SR1 million in one case.