Faulty equipment blamed for 44% malpractice deaths
Saudi Gazette report
TAIF — The forensic medicine commission attributed 44 percent of deaths due to medical errors last year to faulty devices, Makkah daily reported on Tuesday.
The commission said 137 patients died as a result of medical errors caused by faulty equipment during the year.
The commission received a total of 311 complaints of medical malpractice involving deaths.
“After thorough investigations, the commission ruled that defective medical devices were responsible for 44 percent of deaths while 174 deaths were to various other reasons," a source in the commission said.
"The commission asked all medical institutions to ensure that the equipment they use are flawless to prevent future fatal medical errors,” said the source.
The source said the largest number of malpractice complaints the commission received was from Riyadh. The commission received 58 complaints from Riyadh, but it ruled that only 23 of them involved medical errors.
There were 48 complaints in the Eastern Province, 43 in Jeddah, 31 in Madinah, 28 in Asir, 25 in Qassim, 21 in Tabuk, 15 in Ahsa, 13 in Makkah, 11 in Baha, 10 in Taif and 5 in Najran.
Jazan had the lowest number of complaints with only three deaths due to alleged medical errors, said the source. The source said multiple reasons lead to medical errors.
“A medical error can happen when the doctor assigned neglects his patient's condition completely.
Some doctors rely on nurses to do everything and the nurses sometimes fail to relay the correct information. The more experienced a doctor is, the more aware he is of what could potentially jeopardize the life of a patient,” said the source.
The source also said in some cases patients do not disclose their full medical records to the doctors.
“It is very important that the doctor is fully aware of his patient’s medical history and secondary diseases they may have,” said the source.
