By BADEA ABU AL-NAJA | ARAB NEWS
MAKKAH: The medical malpractice watchdog is investigating a claim that a government hospital’s misdiagnosis led to a six-month-old baby becoming paralyzed on his right side.
Arab expatriate Hussam Al-Hassan said he took the child to the hospital over two years ago and four operations were performed on him to treat a hernia, a wart under his tongue and a cyst in his right testicle. A circumcision was the other procedure.
He added that the baby’s condition deteriorated further and he had to be admitted to intensive care.
“After many examinations, the doctors discovered that the child was suffering from acidaemia (increased acidity in the bloodstream). The right part of his body was completely paralyzed and he also had bacteria in the blood,” he said.
Al-Hassan said his child was kept in a special room and doctors decided to run an MRI scan to find out the reasons behind the paralysis. “The doctors did not know the reasons. The hospital then told me that there was no medical treatment for him,” he said.
The father said two days after his child was discharged, his condition worsened and he then took him to Hira General Hospital in Makkah.
“There, the doctors asked to see the previous medical reports. They diagnosed that the child was suffering from atrophy of the brain and quadriplegia when the previous hospital’s reports indicated that there was nothing wrong with his brain,” he said.
Al-Hassan said he is suing the government hospital and the medical team who treated his baby for negligence.
Lawyer Badr Al-Rouqi, who represents the family, said he asked the watchdog, a commission based at the Health Ministry, to investigate what happened to the child as a result of the four operations.
He has also requested it sends the government hospital’s medical reports to a specialist committee at the health affairs department in Jeddah to recommend punishments as stipulated in health regulations.
Arab News
