JEDDAH, 25 October 2007 — Dr. Sami Badawood, general supervisor of King Abdul Aziz Hospital and Tumor Center, yesterday denied that the hospital had issued a circular threatening to sack staff members who would speak or pass information to the press.

He said a document that was being circulated in the hospital in the last two days was only the draft of a confidential communication that a colleague had translated from English. “This was not an official circular. The document was not even signed or stamped by the administration. And it is not approved by the Ministry of Health,” Badawood said.

The document, which was published in an Arabic newspaper, was printed in the Ministry of Health letterhead but had no official signature or stamp. The text purportedly banned staff from passing information about colleagues and patients to the press.

A number of employees received the circular and signed it without checking for the official stamp. Dr. Badawood said that employees should not sign papers that are not authorized by the hospital’s administration.

He also said there was no rule banning staff from speaking to the press but added that the personal information of patients had always been confidential and could not be divulged to third parties.