By Adnan Al-Shabrawi
JEDDAH — Like any other expecting mother, Anwar, a 29-year-old Saudi woman, dreamed of having a baby to fill her life with joy and happiness and to wake her up in the middle of the night to be breastfed.
Her dream was shattered forever. The woman died of a medical error leaving behind a devastated husband who says he wants his wife back, not any diyah or blood money.
Saleh Al-Qabdah, the bereaved husband, said the concerned authorities held the doctor, who was treating her, 100 percent responsible for the medical mistake and his wife's subsequent death.
"I am not waiting for financial compensation for the unexpected departure of my wife. I want justice from the doctor who turned my life into an extended darkness after the death of the closest person to my heart," he said.
Amid tears and a shaking voice, Al-Qabdah said his wife was under the process of having a test-tube baby when she suffered three strokes that ended her life prematurely.
He said he complained about the medial error to the Forensic Medical Committee at the General Court in Jeddah to settle the case.
He said after 13 years of marriage without babies he and his wife decided to go for a test-tube baby so they went to a famous clinic in Jeddah specialized in the treatment of infertility.
"The consultant gynecologist gave my wife injections which he said would activate and enlarge the ovaries but without making any tests or diagnosis," he said.
The husband said after the injections, the health condition of his wife started to deteriorate but the doctor did not make any efforts to correct the situation.
"One evening my wife went into a sudden coma. I took her to a government hospital in Makkah where the doctors said she had two strokes in the brain and one in the lung," he said.
Qabdah said his wife was put under life support systems but died after 10 days without seeing the baby she had been dreaming about all her married life.
He also took the case to the Health Ministry, which constituted an investigation committee that held the doctor responsible for the fatal mistake.
The committee found that the patient was not subjected to the necessary lab tests or X-rays and was given an overdose of the medicine.
"The doctor did not take the case seriously nor did he react to the side effects of the medicines," the committee said holding the unidentified doctor responsible for the mistake by 100 percent.
The woman's husband asked both the justice and health ministries to punish the doctor severely for causing the death of his wife.
He said the doctor was prevented from traveling but is still continuing his practice as usual.
