Al-Amal deaths due to ‘natural causes’

Al-Amal Psychiatric Hospital in Riyadh has registered 23 patient deaths between 2009 and 2013, all of them due to natural causes.
“The death rate in psychiatric hospitals is 2.5 percent higher than in other hospitals,” Dr. Mazen Abu Al-Haija, head of the hospital’s Mental Health Department, said, adding that 13 of the recorded deaths occurred inside the hospital and 10 outside. The causes included sudden heart and lung failure and all cases were examined by specialists.
Psychiatric patients are more prone to health complications because they often do not realize the gravity of their symptoms and don’t report symptoms. “However, in cases where the patient is hospitalized, the disease is diagnosed early and treated as specialists would be running routine examinations,” he said.
The risk is higher when the patient’s psychiatric illness is severe to the extent of committing suicide.
He said modern psychiatric medications are of high safety levels and pose no threat to the health of the patient. “All medications in use are approved by the Ministry of Health and international medical organizations like USFDA and others.”