NAJRAN – Despite a recommendation from Asir Shariah Medical Commission not to renew a doctor's employment contract, the Najran Health Affairs Directorate went ahead and employed the doctor suspected of malpractice in the death of an infant. The Minister of Health has also directed that the doctor should be suspended from work until investigations into the case had been completed. The infant's father has refused to receive the dead body for eight months now, and is waiting for the final decision of the Bureau of Grievances. Khalid Aal Balabil, Najran Health Affairs spokesman, told a local daily that the doctor was suspended from work until the commission determined that “no medical error has been committed and resulted in the detachment of the head of an infant from her body.” The father of the infant then filed a complaint with the Bureau of Grievances against the doctor and as a result the commission's decision was left in a limbo. Hassan Al-Zahrani, a lawyer, said renewing the doctor's contract was in flagrant violation of the rules because the doctor failed to explain how the head got detached from the body during birth. “Legally speaking, the doctor has violated the decision of the Minister of Health which called for suspending the doctor from work until investigations were over.” He also stated that the doctor's contract should not be renewed for his failure to explain to the infant's parents what happened during the operation. Investigations so far have absolved a Sudanese doctor, two Filipino nurses and a pediatrician from responsibility. The commission said they dealt with the case professionally and as per the established medical norms. Although the doctor recorded the details of the operation, he failed to explain the anomalies to the infant's parents. The infant's father discovered by chance that his head was sewed back to the body by sutures. He decided to lodge a complaint with Sharoorah Police and return the infant to the morgue at Sharorah General Hospital. — SG
