140421L - MEDICAL ERRORS, MEDIA AND COMMUNITY IN CONTEXT

Lecture on April 21, 2014 for Year 4 medical students Faculty of Medicine, King Fahad Medical City Riyadh by Dr Omar Hasan Kasule Sr.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND KEY WORDS

·         Objectives: To understand the reporting of medical errors in the media and its repercussions in the community

·         Keywords: Medical Errors, Media, Community

                                                  

DEFINITIONS

·         An error is a preventable adverse effect of treatment examples: errors of diagnosis, wrong treatment

·         Malpractice is failure to fulfill the duties of the trust put on the physician.

·         Negligence is breach of duty owed by the physician to the patient resulting in damage or injury. Negligence is defined according to the standard of care

BASIS OF LIABILITY:

Three ingredients must be proved in a case of negligence:

·         The physician owed a duty of care

·         The physician failed in that duty

·         The failure resulted in damage.

MALPRACTICE SUITS: COURT PROCEDURE

·         Filing a complaint by the plaintiff, serving a summons on the defendant

·         Plea of guilty or not guilty by the defendant

·         Discovery (lawyers for both sides collect more information by interviews, examinations, and collection of documents)

·         Opening statements at the trial by both sides

·         Testimony and examination of witnesses

·         Closing arguments and judgment.

PROOF

·         The burden of proof of breach of standard of care lies with the plaintiff.

·         Proof of breach is based on a balance of probabilities, on the ‘but-for’ test, and on causation of damage or risk.

AVOIDING / PREVENTION OF MALPRACTICE SUITS

·         Obtaining and maintaining registration,

·         Sticking to defined professional standards of care,

·         Peer review, quality assurance, use of protocols,

·         Defensive medicine

·         Politeness with patients.

·         The best protection against medical negligence is the conscience of all health care workers to make sure that mistakes do not occur.

CASE #1: DOCTORS UNDER PROBE FOR MEDICAL ERROR….

(Arab News Sunday, March 26, 2014)

A number of medical staff working in government and private sector hospitals in Jeddah are under investigation for a medical error which resulted in the explosion of a mother’s womb sending her newborn baby into a coma, local media said quoting a Health Affairs spokesman in Jeddah.

Amin Al-Sheikh, the baby’s father filed a complaint to the police for negligence by the staff in the maternity ward at one of the private sector hospitals, and later, by the maternity and pediatrics government hospital in Musaddiya, where the case was referred to, which exposed the mother and the unborn child to risk, Abdulrahaman Al-Sahafi told Al-Watan daily.

In response, the Health Affairs department has formed a three-member committee consisting of maternity and pediatrics doctors to open an inquiry into the case. The medical staff responsible for the mishap have been called to give testimonials and banned from leaving the Kingdom.

“If the case is proved to be caused by negligence of the said medical staff, the file will be referred to the medical judicial council (MJC) for further procedures,” Al-Sahafi said.

The baby’s father told media that his wife who was in the ninth month of pregnancy was given false assurances during her routine checkups ignoring the severity of her case. At the time of the child’s birth, he had to rush his wife to the emergency unit of the maternity and pediatrics hospital in Musaadiyya where he was informed that she needed to undergo a caesarean delivery. “They kept her in the delivery room for two hours which aggravated the situation,” he said.

His wife was transported to the X-ray and operation rooms several times which caused complications, he said. She was given an anesthetic prior to being operated on and they even took her fingerprints which is a violation of the health ministry’s regulations, the father maintained. “The unnecessary delays and negligence on the part of the medical staff at the hospitals caused an explosion in my wife’s womb and my son to go into a coma,” he said.

CASE#2: MEDICAL ERROR BLAMED FOR DEATH OF 8-YEAR-OLD BOY (Arab News Nov 18, 2012)



JEDDAH: A health official accused a leading private hospital in Jeddah for colluding with a doctor involved in a fatal medical error.

“The Directorate of Health issued a memo to the private hospital administration requesting them not to allow the expatriate doctor, involved in the child’s death, to flee the country. The memo also made it clear that any other hospital staff involved in the medical error should also be present in the country for interrogations. Any one who conceals facts from the directorate will be punished,” Assistant Director of Health Affairs in Jeddah, Dr. Turki Al-Sharif said.

Salah Al-Deen, son of a leading businessman, Sheikh Yusuf Jameel, died due to a medical error at Dr. Erfan & Bagdeo Hospital in Jeddah on Thursday. The eight-year old boy was taken to the hospital for a checkup, after he developed symptoms of swollen lymphatic glands, following a two-week-long bout of fever.
The mother gave her consent to the doctors, to do the necessary surgery, after she was reassured that it was a simple operation that would only last for 30 minutes. However, the doctors, reportedly, operated upon the boy in an x-ray lab that was not equipped for surgical operations. In the course of anesthesia, the boy was administered nitrogen instead of oxygen. By the time the surgeons discovered the mistake, the circulatory system had been completely damaged. The situation was further exacerbated because the x-ray room was not equipped for emergency cardiac resuscitation. The hospital offered condolences to the bereaved relatives on behalf of the administration and staff members.

The hospital administration, blamed a technical maintenance company for the fatal error, and filed a complaint to the police department against the company, for bungling the medical equipment system.

Al-Sharif however, pointed out, the improper conduct of the hospital administration, after committing a serious medical error. “The hospital administration demonstrated contradictory behavior when they helped the expatriate doctor, suspected to be involved in the fatal medical error, to flee the country, and yet blamed the maintenance company for the death of the child,” Al-Sharif said in a statement to Al-Madinah newspaper.

“The mistake happened inside the x-ray room, when the maintenance company mixed up the oxygen and nitrogen inlets. The company carried out the routine maintenance, without the knowledge of the concerned authorities in the hospital,” the hospital statement said on Thursday.

Al-Shareef said the fault still lies within the hospital administration for appointing unreliable employees.

He said a technical committee is investigating the damage done to the child’s respiratory system caused by the nitrogen supplied by mistake at the time of the surgery. Another engineering committee is investigating the medical equipment used in the hospital.

Minister of Health Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah has been personally following the case and has asked for an urgent report about the cause of the child’s death. The hospital said it is cooperating fully with the officials and that it handed over all the files related to the medical error to the health directorate.

It also demanded the directorate to pass the case to the Shariah Court, to prosecute the people responsible for the child’s death, including the maintenance company.

The hospital also stated that the Ministry of Health had granted them, five months ago, a quality certificate after they scored 95 percent and 87 percent on the ministry’s evaluation.

CASE #3: MEDICAL ERRORS ON THE RISE

(Arab News February 3, 2014)

The Kingdom is looking to develop a system of accountability for medical errors in the wake of an alarming increase in the number of such cases across the country.

Many practitioners in the Kingdom get away with their mistakes simply because there is no mechanism in place for monitoring incidents of medical malpractice.

“Getting doctors to admit they have committed a medical error is the biggest challenge,” said Dr. Hasan Farah of Qatif’s Central Hospital in the Eastern Province, who is conducting studies on the issue.

Speaking to Arab News on Sunday, Farah said that accurate statistics on the number of medical errors occurring in the Kingdom and the region at large are unavailable due to the absence of monitoring.

“Admitting mistakes is an ethical necessity and may help prevent such mistakes from recurring in the future,” he said.

He also said that “it is not easy to judge errors occurring in the medical field due to their complexity.”

He said that medical errors in obstetrics and gynecology account for 27 percent of the total number of errors on record, the largest percentage in any specialty.

Surgical errors account for 17 percent of errors, while errors in internal medicine account for 13 percent of all cases and pediatrics 10 percent. The findings are based on a study conducted by Dr. Tawfiq Khoja on medical malpractice in the Kingdom.

“Systematic processes must be put in place for the identification and reporting of medical errors and for the implementation of a system of accountability, which will undoubtedly minimize the rate of medical mistakes,” said Farah.

Advanced nations such as the United States have a higher percentage of medical error, but have a more transparent system for gathering data, he said.

Jeddah leads in medical errors in the Kingdom, with 287 cases, followed by Riyadh with 280.

“A total of 1,356 cases were reported in the Kingdom last year,” said Majid Garoub, chairman of a legal committee on medical cases.

Around 722 cases were initially discovered, of which only 129 were confirmed, he said quoting Ministry of Health statistics.

He blamed a lack of expertise for the high rate of medical errors.

Garoub said that a medical and law forum would be held from May 20 to 22 to address this growing phenomenon in the Kingdom and to come up with mechanisms for counteracting these statistics.

Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah recently fired a Saudi physician and revoked his medical license after he was found to have committed a medical error.

The Ministry of Health has also opened a helpline for members of the public to report medical errors at www.moh.gov.sa or by faxing 0112124196.

The Legitimate Health Authority is an independent court tasked with probing cases of medical error. It is chaired by a judge appointed by the minister of justice. The authority has among its members a professor appointed by the minister of higher education and two other physicians appointed by the minister of health, in addition to a statutory adviser.

CASE #4: MINISTRY SUSPENDS DOCTOR FOR COMMITTING MEDICAL ERRORS (ARAB NEWS Sunday, (Arab news Jan 29, 2014)

Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah suspended a doctor in the private sector for medical errors and breach of health regulations on Tuesday.

The decision to suspend the doctor was taken by the minister upon recommendation made by a special committee, which investigated the allegations against the medical practitioner.

The special committee comprises members from the Ministries of Justice, Higher Education and Health.

The Health Ministry has deployed an investigations committee to conduct regular inspections of private facilities in health domains to check the quality of services offered in ambulance services, operation theaters and the professional suitability of medics and paramedics employed by these health institutions to ensure quality health care to patients.

Besides dealing with medical errors and violations, a ministry official said that reasons for punitive action include working without licenses or functioning with expired licenses, employing lack of trained medical staff and the absence of proper facilities and equipment. The closure of some of these medical facilities is temporary and they can be reopened once the irregularities are rectified, he added.

The official said that punitive action reflects the ministry’s concern for the safety and welfare of patients. He further warned that negligence and recklessness on the part of health providers would not be tolerated by the government and that stern action would be taken against such violators based on the seriousness of the violations.
In 2012, Al-Rabeeah launched a “Patients First” program, which highlights the care expected from health providers for patients in the Kingdom.

The Health Ministry closed down 30 medical complexes, 15 polyclinics, 29 pharmacies, 27 optical houses and five physiotherapy centers for violations last year. During this period, the ministry also collected SR3.75 million in fines from such violators, which included SR1.98 million from pharmacies.

The Ministry of Health has also opened a helpline for members of the public to make complaints about medical errors and health violations in the Kingdom.

“Members of the public can file their complaints online or they can directly fax the details for action,” he said, adding that they can make an online complaint on www.moh.gov.sa)

CASE #5: GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS MONITORED ELECTRONICALLY FOR MEDICAL ERRORS

(Arab News Sep 26, 2013)

Hospitals at the Ministry of Health have been connected electronically, said Sami Badawood, director-general of Jeddah Health Affairs.

“Government hospitals have also been linked with the Health Ministry’s branch in Riyadh,” he added.
“We are in the process of linking private hospitals for the safety of patients,” he said, pointing out that medical errors or mistakes will reach the ministry in Riyadh on the spot. “The ministry will then take punitive measures.”

The Health Ministry will dispatch a specialized team to questionable locations for evaluation and conduct further discussions on ways to prevent such mistakes from recurring, said Badawood.

Badawood said that health services offered by the ministry in the Kingdom are still fledging in terms of quality and risk management in comparison with its counterparts in other countries. He made the statement during a convention on “Patient safety, Quality and Risk management” organized by King Abdul-Aziz Hospital.

“Our ministry has made great achievements in the area of healthcare. There are already three hospitals in Jeddah that acquired quality accreditation from the Joint Commission International (JCI), a commission that evaluates hospitals worldwide.”

He said that hospitals with 100 to 200 beds are stepping up efforts to acquire approval via the Central Council for the Accreditation of Health Institutions, a minimized standard of the JCI.

“The first step taken by the Saudi Health Ministry is qualifying trainees in the field of patient safety, quality and risk management to disseminate a culture of patient safety and quality between health workers in the different sectors,” explained Badawood.

“Very few states recorded incidents of the coronavirus. This is why the Saudi Health Ministry only conducted a survey among pilgrims suffering from high fever or flu. Such pilgrims will be closely monitored.”

More than 620 members at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah will work around the clock.

“All pilgrims coming from infected regions will get a vaccine shot. There is a plan in place with the World Health Organization to follow up disease outbreak and distribution maps,” he added.

Around 250,000 pilgrims have reached the country so far through Jeddah’s airport, he said. “They were all provided with comprehensive health services. Free-of-charge vaccinations will be given to pilgrims,” he concluded.

“Not a single epidemic has been recorded between pilgrims so far,” he said.

CASE #6: TRAVEL BAN ON 20 MEDICS IN RAFHA AFTER MEDICAL ERROR

(Arab News May 28, 2013)

Authorities have imposed a travel ban on 20 health practitioners, doctors and technicians who worked at Rafha Central Hospital’s nursery department.

The ban came after the department caused total or partial blindness to four children at the hospital.

The medical commission at Tabuk will launch a full-scale investigation for Asil and Rasil, twin sisters whose father alleged they were blinded during their stay at the hospital as a result of medical error, on Tuesday.

Thamer Al-Shamari told a local newspaper that he has submitted a complaint against the hospital.

He said other parents whose children were blinded under similar circumstances have also filed action against the hospital.

The father of the girls said the Ministry of Health should bear the cost of treatment at the best medical centers in Germany or the US.

Al-Shamari discovered the condition of his daughters 14 days after they left the hospital.
“I took them both to an eye doctor who said they suffered from a severance of the retina,” he said, adding that the oxygen overdose they were exposed to caused this separation.
One doctor involved in the case was allowed to travel. The Director of Health Affairs at the northern borders, Muhammad Al-Habdan, said that the doctor submitted a legal proxy after paying medical insurance in case claims were made against him.

CASE #7: MOH SETS UP BOARD TO CHECK MEDICAL ERRORS

(Arab News June 2, 2013)

The Ministry of Health has established a Forensic Medical Board to deal with medical error cases.
Khalid Al-Mirghalani, the ministry’s spokesman, told Arab News yesterday that the board would function as a parent body to other branches that are being set up in all major cities in the Kingdom. He added that plans are under way to establish a forensic medical committee in Bisha shortly.

Al-Mirghalani explained that the forensic medical centers dispersed across different parts of the Kingdom have been provided with specialists in the relevant discipline.

Forensic medicine is a multidisciplinary field, which combines medical, social, and judicial analysis, provides practical expertise and describes cases from a scientific point of view. 

He said that the board would operate as a legal body to look into cases of medical malpractice and medical error complaints filed by citizens. 

The Forensic Medical Board will also provide its branches with a special forensic kit to facilitate clinical tests for cases of sexual abuse.

Munirah bint Hamdan Al-Osaimi, assistant undersecretary of the ministry for medical services, said the forensic medicine department at the ministry has been active in providing fellowships to health officials who work under the program. 

“The fellowship in forensic medicine program awards a specialist certificate on forensic medicine, which is equivalent to a postgraduate degree,” she noted.

Some 15 male and female Saudi physicians were admitted in the 2012 program, thereby bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 51 physicians in different specialties, she said.

The forensic medicine department has also contributed to the master’s degree program on toxins and narcotics, which is being awarded by Naif Arab University for Security Sciences (NAUSS), she said.
She added that the department had also participated in the work of the Scientific Committee of Chemical Safety (SCCS) through a workshop, which focused on cases of chemical and drug poisoning.

In an earlier statement, Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah said the ministry is keen on working to prevent medical errors and “will take necessary action against those proven guilty of such mistakes.”

CASE #8: MEDICAL ERROR RESULTS IN GIRL’S SLOW DEATH

(Arab New April 27, 2006)

JEDDAH, 27 April 2006 — A seven-year-old girl, who underwent an appendectomy on March 3 and returned to emergency care a month later due to a forgotten surgical swab that festered in her abdomen, died from the apparent surgical mistake, Al-Riyadh newspaper reported yesterday.

Razan Alwani, the daughter of a police sergeant in the Farasan Islands, was taken to a local hospital when she showed signs of severe illness. Doctors there discovered the surgical swab and the girl underwent a six-hour emergency surgery.

After two days in the hospital, Razan showed signs of improvement and doctors were hopeful that she would be ready for another operation in two weeks.

However by Sunday night there was an unexpected reverse in her condition. She was transferred back to the emergency ward where she died from septic shock.

“But the real cause was intestinal infection developed owing to the negligence durimg the appendectomy,” Razan’s father Adil said.

The surgical team is under investigation

CASE #9: MEDICAL COMMISSION NEEDS INDEPENDENCE

(Arab News March 11, 2013)

My mother passed away almost two years ago. She was a renal patient for five years and during her illness my family and I have come to a close contact with the Saudi health public and private sectors.
We have learned that if you want peace of mind entrust your beloved ones to the private sector.
Yet by going to the private sector one must have an excellent credit history and that the same credit is maintained following the treatment. I doubt, though, that many families can keep up with the costs of a private hospital because receiving treatment in the private sector in Saudi Arabia has become increasingly unbearable for the middle class.

Recently, the media greet us every morning with a shocking story of malpractice and medical mistakes in which children and adults are victimized by alleged negligence.

This is not to say that medical errors do not happen elsewhere. They occur even in the most advanced countries. Medical mistakes are considered the third leading cause of death in the world. Last year, 250,000 people died in the United States because of medical errors.

Millions were also injured. However, what makes United States and other developed countries different from us is the accountability system. A health care provider in the US might lose his license if the mistake was found to be a result of a malpractice. This is not the practice in Saudi Arabia. I have never read about a doctor or a nurse who lost his license for a proven case of medical malpractice.

In 2011, Liam Donaldson, the WHO envoy for patient safety said, “If you were admitted to a hospital tomorrow in any country ... your chances of being subjected to an error in your care would be something like 1 to 10.

Your chances of dying due to an error in health care would be 1 in 300.”

He compared the risk of dying from a medical error to the risk of dying in an airplane crash, which stands at 1 in 10 million.

I wonder whether Mr. Donaldson consulted his record about medical errors in Saudi Arabia before citing that number.

I am sure that he did not because if he did he would have said, “Going to a hospital in Saudi Arabia is more dangerous than driving in its own streets. In Saudi Arabia, 73 percent of the registered deaths of people under the age of 40 is due to road accidents. Twenty people die every day.”

According to a report by the Saudi Ministry of Health, the number of medical errors under investigation by the Saudi Shariah Medical Commission, the agency responsible for investigating the reported cases of medical errors, is 1,165.

The number is alarming, though we all know that there are probably an equal number cases that go unreported by the families due to the religious nature of the Saudi society that strongly believes that death is fate and no one can change it.

Many Saudis believe that dying in a hospital at a very young age is no different form dying at bed in your 90s. I am not claiming otherwise, however, malpractice should not go unpunished.

We should introduce malpractice liability and financial penalties for poor performance. We need a consumer reporting system for patient safety that is similar to the US.

That does not mean holding doctors and nurses accountable for each self-reported case. We know that families might not have enough medical background to judge the medical procedure. Yet their reports should be used as a tip for a further professional investigation.

The medical investigative body should be independent, but currently most members of the Saudi Shariah Medical Commission are practicing doctors at other government hospitals. It’s difficult to investigate and charge your colleague or close friend, and then work or go for shisha at the beach with him the next day. What kind of justice is this going to produce?

CASE #9: HOSPITAL IN DEADLY NEGLIGENCE ROW, AGAIN

(Arab News Oct 25m, 2013)

Erfan & Bagedo Hospital in Jeddah is once again in the midst of a medical error controversy after 17-year old Zubaidah died on Thursday during surgery.

Sami Badawood, Health Affairs director in Jeddah, said that it was a case of medical error, which could have occurred on any surgeon’s watch.

Penalties are incurred by either the surgeon or the hospital following review and include financial fines and the withdrawal of medical licensing.

Both the surgeon and the hospital have refused to issue a statement to the media and have requested that journalists submit their questions in writing.

Badawood said that the committee determined the cause of death as “complications during the surgical procedure.” The physician injured one of the major veins in the abdominal cavity as he inserted a scope in Zubaida’s abdomen. Such a surgical procedure has a 0.1 percent fatality rate.

Zubaida was originally suffering from appendicitis. Her father said: “The procedure to remove my daughter’s appendix was expected to last only 30 minutes, but the procedure lasted from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The emergency signal went off in the hospital and medical teams suddenly rushed into the surgery room.

“I was eventually approached by the supervising doctor who performed the procedure and he told me that my daughter suffered from medical complications caused by the mixing of oxygen and nitrogen.”

No one had told him that Zubaida was brain dead. Rather, he was informed that she would be transferred to the Intensive Care Unit for treatment. He noticed two incisions on her abdomen, which confirmed that doctors had performed open surgery without his consent, he said.

Doctors explained that they had to create the incision to rectify the injury that was caused during the initial endoscopic procedure.

“On Wednesday, I was told that she was partially brain dead, and this morning, they removed all the equipment because she was unresponsive. In essence, my daughter was already dead,” he said.
“We are still awaiting the results of the investigation being conducted by the committee at the Ministry of Health. I have faith that my daughter’s rights will not be lost.”

CASE #10: PATIENTS STILL PAYING FOR MEDICAL ERRORS

(Arab News Sep 22, 2007)

MAKKAH, 22 September 2007 — Due to an alleged lack of supervision by the Ministry of Health, medical mistakes in the Kingdom’s hospitals continue to claim the lives of people. Arab News met Muhammad, a 42-year-old Saudi citizen whose quest for proper medical care took him across the Middle East and beyond to the UK.

Muhammad is married and has two children. For a long time he suffered severe back pain that prevented him from walking and so went to a well-known hospital in Jeddah to consult a Saudi bone specialist.

“The doctor said he wanted an x-ray and carried out some clinical examinations. He told me that I was suffering from inflammation at the end of my back in the coccyx (the tailbone or the final segment of the human vertebral column),” said Muhammad, who was advised to take tranquilizers to make him feel better.

“The tranquilizers reduced the pain for a while but it soon came back,” he said, adding that he went to another private hospital and consulted an Egyptian physician, who concurred with the previous doctor’s diagnosis after carrying out x-rays himself.

Unsatisfied with the treatment he received, Muhammad went to a hospital in Beirut where a bone doctor told him that he needed to exercise his coccyx bone. On returning to Jeddah, a fourth doctor told him that the pain he was suffering was the result of cramp in his muscles due to the exercise that he was doing.

Muhammad then consulted a Saudi neurosurgeon, who asked him to undergo a scan. The doctor also advised him to undergo physiotherapy.

Not seeing a difference, Muhammad went to an Egyptian physician, who told him not to think a lot because that was affecting his nerves and causing him pain. He also advised him to take some depression tablets.

Muhammad then went to another Saudi physician at Al-Badria Medical Towers. The physician advised him to visit a neurologist because he could not work out what was wrong.

The 42-year-old continued visiting doctor after doctor. He even went to a bone consultant in Egypt, who told him that he was suffering from inflammation in the sciatic nerve and that this was what was hurting him. He advised him to take some strong tranquilizers.

Muhammad said, “I followed lots of doctors’ prescriptions, but the pain continued to increase. The financial losses were increasing too.”

Finally Muhammad decided to go to Britain to consult a specialist physician identified only as Dr. James, who after examining him told him that there was a tumor in his back that needed to be removed.

“He told me that he was going to carry out surgery. He told me that he wouldn’t go ahead if I were unsure about it. He said his main concern was to make sure I was satisfied with the treatment,” said Muhammad, adding that he underwent the surgery.

“After the operation the doctor ordered that I undergo another brain and neck scan to make sure everything was OK. He gave me some medication and asked me to visit him again after eight months,” Muhammad said.

“Dr. James said that if he cannot properly diagnose a case then he takes help from his colleagues. He told me that sharing experience with other doctors benefits him and his patients. Moreover, in Britain doctors are punished severely for medical mistakes,” he said.

Muhammad urged physicians in Saudi Arabia to fear God and respect their medical oaths.

“You are dealing with the flesh and blood of human beings. I spent SR20,000 on treatment in Britain. I wish I had spent this money in Saudi Arabia. This would have made me proud,” he said.

CASE #11: CHEMOTHERAPY VICTIM TO BE SENT ABROAD

(Arab News July 2, 2013)

Al-Qassim Gov. Prince Faisal bin Bandar expressed his concern at the grave medical error that caused a healthy child to undergo a highly hazardous cancer treatment at a hospital in Buraidah last week.

The victim of the near-fatal error, five-year old Rama Al-Mohaimed, is currently receiving treatment at home under the supervision of experts from King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh.

Acting director general of Health Affairs in Al-Qassim province Dr. Abdullah Al-Saigal said that Rama would soon be sent for further treatment abroad.

The error was attributed to a doctor who, reportedly confused Rama’s name with that of 15-year-old cancer patient Rami.

“What happened is a serious mistake and the perpetrators of such an error should be answerable; our country is not a place for conducting experiments,” said Prince Faisal during a meeting held to discuss the medical mistake at the prince’s office in Buraidah on Sunday.

Al-Saigal, Dr. Al-Amin Sabahi, medical director of the Maternity and Children’s Hospital; and Ahmed Al-Qeblan, director of Prince Faisal bin Bandar Cancer Center in Qassim; attended the meeting. The father of the victim, Abdullah Al- Mohaimed and Rama were also present at the meeting.

“I call this table around which we are meeting the table of interrogation, monitoring and accountability. It will be called so until we combat each and every shortcoming committed by government departments. The culprit and his victim will sit at this table until the person who committed the error is held accountable for his deed,” the prince said vowing action against any individual responsible for committing mistakes.
“This mistake cannot be pardoned,” the prince said, adding that periodic reports about Rama’s condition should be conducted and delivered to him.

Al-Saigal explained to the prince that the Committee for Medical Violations would examine the error and conduct an investigation.

The girl had been subjected to the treatment for cancer following a wrong diagnosis. The prince was also told that the Egyptian doctor responsible for the error had left the country.

Al-Mohaimed thanked the doctors for saving his daughter’s life by discontinuing the chemotherapy treatment before it was too late. He explained that his daughter was still in a state of trauma.