When the family of Shouq Ahmad Al-Yami traveled from Najran to Makkah, they did not know their daughter would end up in critical condition in hospital because of the medical error of a Saudi female doctor at King Fahd General Hospital here. Ahmad Al-Yami, Shouq's father, told Al-Watan Arabic daily in a sad voice that the family went to Makkah to perform Umrah at the beginning of last week. His daughter felt some abdominal pain and was rushed to Al-Noor Specialist Hospital in Makkah where some analgesics were prescribed for her and her father was told that she needed an appendectomy. The doctor advised that she be taken to King Fahd Hospital in Jeddah. “We went last Sunday to Jeddah and admitted our daughter to the hospital. Doctors decided to operate on her right away and to conduct an endoscopy which was done by a Saudi female doctor.” While Al-Yami was waiting outside the operating room, he noticed that several doctors entered the operating room together and that they looked worried. They took his daughter to the ICU and told him that the Saudi female doctor made an error while operating on his daughter. “They said that the doctor cut an artery and three major veins inside my daughter's abdomen, which caused serious internal bleeding,” Al-Yami said. The hospital provided the father with a copy of the medical report. He said he would lodge a complaint against the female doctor. Al-Yami is worried about his daughter who is still in the ICU and he is afraid that her case will become even more complicated. He called upon the Ministry of Health to transfer his daughter to a specialized hospital. Dr. Salim Basalamah, director of the hospital, said the doctor made a mistake and the patient's condition is complicated; however, she is recovering.
