The boy, Adel Al-Zahrani (inset), lying in hospital bed. (Okaz photos)JEDDAH: The Shariah Health Commission in Makkah has slapped fines to the tune of SR234,000 on six expatriate doctors working in a government hospital in Jeddah for medical errors that caused a boy, Adel Al-Zahrani, to lose his senses of sight, hearing and speech; the ability to feed himself; and control over his bowels.
Adel’s father said his son has been lying in the hospital for five years without showing any sign of improvement, which has caused mental torture to the entire family. He also expressed his displeasure over the amount of the fine, which he said will not help his son recover.
The problems started when the boy met a road accident. The Red Crescent rushed him to the hospital where he stayed for two days before he was referred to another government hospital. That hospital said he was stable and discharged him.
Twenty-five days later, the boy developed complications including difficulty in breathing and he was rushed to the emergency ward of the same hospital.
When he arrived, doctors opened a hole in his trachea and he was admitted to the intensive care unit, where his condition deteriorated to the extent that he was suffering the disabilities that afflict him to this day.
The boy’s father lodged a complaint with the Shariah Health Commission, which formed a committee chaired by Ibrahim Al-Qinni, a judge, and four specialist doctors. The committee showed that six doctors tried seven times to fix the tube in the child’s trachea and used a long-term anesthesia, which caused his heart to stop beating.
Investigators also determined that doctors in the emergency room erred in not accompanying the boy to the intensive care unit, which caused more complications because his breathing tube was loose and came out of his trachea before he reached the unit.
The commission’s decision ordered the hospital to pay 30 percent of the SR234,000 blood money. It also ordered the ICU specialist to pay SR117,000 in compensation to the boy’s father and made an ear, nose and throat consultant pay SR39,000.
Saudi Gazette