The Health Affairs Department opened an inquiry into the case of a Saudi patient who has been in a coma for a month in a private hospital in Jeddah where he came seeking treatment for a twisted ankle, Al-Madinah daily reported yesterday.
Details of the investigation will be announced next week, the report said, quoting the departments director, Sami Badawood.
Hassan Al-Harithy, a 47-year-old father of five girls, was admitted in the hospital on June 16 after twisting his ankle while playing soccer. Doctors at the hospital determined that the injury would require surgery. Al-Harithy fell into a coma after the local anesthesia was administered.
Sources who spoke to the local press on condition of anonymity said the committee was of the opinion that this was a case of 100 percent medical malpractice.
My brother was playing soccer when he twisted his ankle. The surgeon told him that the operation wouldnt take more than an hour under local anesthesia, but since the morning of June 16 my brother has remained unconscious, Wafa Al-Harithy, the mans sister, said.
She said though her brother told the surgeon that he was suffering from low blood pressure and a blockade in one of the hearts veins, the doctor said it was safe to conduct the operation.
The name of the hospital was not mentioned in the report.
Wafa said they tried to take her brother to another hospital in Jeddah but could not.
Arab News
