Medical staff at Al-Safa Hospital, on the other hand, say the woman died before reaching the hospital. This is, however, contradicted by the hospital’s medical director who said she died sometime after arriving there. The woman’s family filed a complaint with the police alleging the woman died in the hospital’s reception hall after waiting there for over one hour. The woman had been suffering from anemia after delivering a baby some days ago.
The family also accuses the hospital staff of rejecting their request to take the patient to the emergency section after her condition deteriorated and she showed signs of fatigue. After sometime she fainted and was taken to the hospital’s emergency section where she was pronounced dead by the doctor on duty.
They also said the hospital staff tried to mislead police about the woman’s death and gave a false statement that she died before reaching the hospital. However, the hospital’s director, Dr. Hussein Al-Radadi, said that the woman died sometime after reaching the reception hall. “She fell down unconscious and died instantly,” he said.
Police passed files on the case to the Public Prosecution and Investigation Commission to take the matter forward. The woman was discharged from the Maternity and Children’s Hospital in Madinah two days ago after spending two weeks there.
In August 2006, Madinah Gov. Prince Abdul Aziz bin Majed had ordered the closure of parts of Al-Safa Hospital and disciplinary action against its staff after the death of a Saudi woman. Naja Ballahmar died following a caesarian delivery; she had been given the wrong type of blood.
Meanwhile, a mother in Madinah has refused to bury her dead son until the results of an investigation into his death are published. The woman has also urged the authorities to conduct a postmortem on the body of her son. Saad Al-Rasheedi, 25, died on Thursday due to acute respiratory problems coupled with low pressure and kidney failure. He was admitted to King Fahd Hospital on Wednesday.
Dr. Abdul Hameed Shohat, director of King Fahd Hospital, said Al-Rasheedi was brought to the hospital’s emergency section dehydrated and unconscious. “All our efforts to save him were futile,” he added.
A relative told Al-Watan that the victim’s family has serious doubts about the police explanation of the cause of death. He added that Al-Rasheedi had recently joined a public security-training course and it is unknown whether it was the training that caused the complication.
He also said Al-Rasheedi’s father died recently and that he was the only breadwinner for his family consisting of his mother and five young sisters.