It is better to ask an experienced person than a doctor. So goes an old Arabic saying that still holds true for many people today. Many patients in the Kingdom have lost confidence in Arab doctors and instead choose to be treated by foreign doctors despite the fact that Arab doctors are equally well qualified. Patients do not want to be treated by Saudi or Arab doctors because of the tragic stories they have heard about medical errors and many have called for stricter penalties to be imposed on erring doctors. Residents and citizens Saudi Gazette spoke with say they all know someone who has had a friend or relative who went to a hospital with a small problem and left on a stretcher with several ailments. Umm Kamil began sobbing as she recalled the day her elder sister died 11 years ago. “My sister was admitted to a hospital in Makkah with a fractured leg. Doctors said she had Deep Venous Thrombosis (DVT) and needed to stay in the hospital. After a week, she went into a coma and later was pronounced dead. I detest hospitals,” said Kamil. Recently, 12-year-old Sulafa Al-Amri died following an allergic reaction to a vaccine she received. Her father said when his daughter was admitted to the hospital, she only had moderate abdominal pain. Ten hours after her admission, Sulafa died due to a breakdown in her respiratory system, which eventually caused her to go into cardiac arrest. Her father says his daughter was killed and the hospital where she died is being investigated. Repeated medical errors have made families think twice before they take their children to the hospital. While many parents were so shaken up after hearing about the Al-Amri case that they refused to take their children to the hospital, others say they refuse to go to private hospitals because they get caught in a web of excessive and unnecessary medical testing. Toleen Ahmad had an allergic reaction in __
