The Ministry of Health has insisted that it was illegal for a health directorate to prevent a health professional from traveling abroad. It has reiterated that this is the responsibility of a special medical commission which investigates cases of medical error. The announcement comes amid a row over an orthopedic specialist in Hail who was found guilty of making a medical error. However, Nasser Al-Muhaifer, spokesman for the Directorate General of Health Affairs in Hail region, said that patients who do suffer at the hands of a doctor are entitled to compensation. Al-Muhaifer said it was the responsibility of public and private health institutions to guarantee payment of compensation for medical errors made by doctors found guilty by medical commissions. The victim has the right to claim such compensation, he said. A report released last year by the Ministry of Health showed that 129 people died in 2010 because of medical errors. Medical commissions in the Kingdom's regions are looking into 1,356 cases of medical errors, the report said. According to 2008 statistics, 929,000 surgical operations were conducted in that year. Of them, 49 percent were conducted in the Ministry of Health hospitals, 39 percent in private hospitals and the remaining 11 percent in military hospitals. With the release of the report on medical errors, a number of people are asking questions about the action the ministry takes against errant doctors and the regulations that define medical errors. __
