Eight-month-old child dies as a result of medical error: Father

DAMMAM: Najeeb Al-Ahmad, the father of an eight-month-old girl who died, filed a complaint with the director general of the Eastern Province Health Department in which he said: “My eight-month daughter died as a result of a misdiagnosis by a physician and negligence of the nursing staff,” stressing that the girl was not suffering from any health or genetic problems.
Al-Ahmad said that his daughter suffered from fever and vomiting on Aug. 11 at 2:15 a.m., which led to transfer her to the hospital, where the doctor on duty said that she suffered from a stomach virus and gave her an injection and antipyretic suppositories.
“My daughter previously did not suffer from any health or genetic problems, but the doctor in charge decided to give her a shot without any prior laboratory tests. As far as I know the injection, Primperan, is not given to children. The doctor said my child suffered a contagious virus,” the father said.
The father said that they returned to the hospital because her condition did not improve, where her condition worsened amid a state of carelessness by the nursing staff until she died, confirming that the hospital report stated that the cause of death was cardiac and respiratory failure.
“The second time they did laboratory tests and said the child suffered dehydration from a virus in the blood. So the hospital isolated my girl and administered medication, after which she suffered shock and the doctor ordered that she should be moved to another hospital without an ambulance despite the worsening of her health condition. But the situation worsened further and we couldn’t move the child, amid a state of negligence by the medical staff.”
He said the medical staff came after a while and tried to administer CPR on his daughter but she died. “The doctors said in their report her breathing and heart stopped,” the father said.
Meanwhile, Asaad Al-Saud, spokesman for the region’s health department, said the girl’s father filed a complaint against the hospital, confirming that the problem was referred to the technical follow-up department for verification and investigation to take the necessary action.