TAIF, 22 February 2007 — The Saudi father of an 11-year-old boy suffering from brain tumor has asked the Health Ministry to intervene after the cancer center in Jeddah’s King Abdul Aziz Hospital allegedly rejected the child twice for treatment and ordered him back to the hospital from where he was transferred. The father claims that his son was sent back and forth two times between the hospitals, located about 110 km from each other.
In a report published yesterday in Al-Madinah newspaper, Othman Al-Manjumi said the hospital in Jeddah turned away his son after King Abdul Aziz Specialist Hospital in Taif requested the child be transferred to the hospital in Jeddah for more specialized care.
“However a doctor there (at King Abdul Aziz Hospital in Jeddah) refused to receive the case and said that the operation done at the Taif hospital was not handled properly,” said Al-Manjumi. “The doctor said my child had an infection and should go back to King Abdul Aziz Specialist Hospital.”
The child, whose name is Rami, is reportedly in critical condition, though it wasn’t clear if the condition was due to the infection or the cancer or both. The father said he had to make arrangements for the transfer his ailing child back and forth two times. “And then for the second time my son was not welcomed at the hospital (in Jeddah),” said the father. “Meanwhile, his condition is getting worse.”
Rami’s uncle Abdul Rahman Al-Manjumi described the reaction of the hospital as a “disaster”.
