Saudi Gazette report

MIKHWAH, Baha — A health official has denied allegations of wrongdoing by doctors at a local hospital after a 15-year-old girl who was brought there suffering from acute tonsillitis slipped into a coma.



The girl's father blamed wrong diagnosis by a doctor who supervised her case at Mikhwah General Hospital for her condition, Al-Watan daily reported.



Spokesman for Baha Health Affairs Ahmed Al-Zahrani said the patient was taken to the hospital’s outpatient clinic on Nov. 12 suffering from tonsillitis and was given the necessary medication.



She was informed that she would be kept on the waiting list ahead of an operation.



Her father was called on Nov. 23 at 10.20 a.m. to take her to the hospital for a follow-up appointment.



However, she was admitted to the emergency room of the hospital at 6.20 a.m. as she was unconscious, said the spokesman.



She was examined by the specialist in internal medicine who diagnosed her with inflammation in the brain or drug poisoning after blood tests.



The patient was transferred to King Fahd Hospital in Baha after her stomach was cleaned out and was placed in intensive care there.



Al-Zahrani added that the patient did not undergo any surgery since being admitted to the Mikhwah hospital until her arrival at King Fahd Hospital. However, the girl's father appealed to health authorities in the region to investigate what exactly happened.



He said the doctor who saw her Mikhwah General Hospital refused to admit her even though her case required hospitalization.



The father added that the doctor told him that her condition was stable and she did not need to be hospitalized. He was given an appointment 15 days later.



The father said: “The ENT doctor left me and did not attach much importance to my daughter’s health condition. I went home and on that night my daughter’s condition worsened.



“On Nov. 23, the hospital telephoned me and said that I have to bring my daughter to undergo an operation to remove the tonsils.”



He claimed the doctor examined her case once again and concluded that she was suffering from drug poisoning and her stomach needed to be cleaned out immediately.



“When the doctor started abdominal washing my daughter slipped into a coma and her condition worsened. She was then transferred to King Fahd Hospital in Baha.”



The father added that after medical tests at King Fahd Hospital, the doctor there said the report from the Mikhwah hospital was wrong.



The father said the medical report issued by Mikhwah General Hospital said the girl was suffering from drug poisoning due to the consumption of narcotic pills, a claim he denied.



He added that his daughter was kept in the isolation unit, given the necessary medications and her condition improved.



He called on the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation to uncover possible malpractice that led to his daughter's miserable condition.