JEDDAH: Reacting to newspaper reports about 15 drug rehab patients running away from Al-Amal Hospital on Thursday, Dr. Sami Badawood, director of the Health Affairs Department in Jeddah, said that what the local press has published regarding a lack of security at the hospital is untrue.
“The patients managed to escape but they were caught on surveillance cameras. So, security wasn’t the reason behind them running away,” said Badawood, while calling for accurate reporting.
The director of the Health Affairs Department also said a subsequent newspaper report on Sunday that another patient fled the hospital on Saturday was a rumor. “The patient did not escape. He actually had a permit to leave the premises to visit his family and is still undergoing treatment,” he added.
It is still unclear why the 15 patients ran away after attacking two nurses and a security guard. Sources at the hospital said the patients fled due to mistreatment and the ineffectiveness of the drug rehabilitation program they were on.
Local newspapers reported that six of the “drug addicts” had been caught and that the rest were still loose. Police arrested four of the six and two returned voluntarily.
Badawood said that drug rehabilitation is a patient’s choice and that people are not imprisoned at the hospital. “Any patient can refuse treatment and go home. No one can force anyone to undergo treatment,” he added.
Yusuf Fallata, a social specialist and former Al-Amal Hospital employee, said that the patients are not escapees as they probably opted to enter the rehabilitation program voluntarily.
“Patients signed up for the rehabilitation program cannot leave the premises for one to two weeks under any circumstances,” he said, adding that those who left would not be caught or brought back.
“I once remember a patient who disappeared for half an hour and came back after having a cigarette. He went because smoking is not allowed in the rehabilitation program,” he said, adding that those who left the hospital might have different reasons for leaving and might eventually come back.
A similar incident took place at Al-Amal Hospital in Dammam in which patients attempted to leave the hospital’s voluntary rehabilitation section. According to a local newspaper, Dr. Mohammed Al-Zahrani, director of Al-Amal Hospital in Dammam, said drug addicts sometimes escape because they are at the beginning of their rehabilitation program.
