RIYADH — The lawyer of a 13-year-old girl who contracted HIV through a blood transfusion at Jazan General Hospital a few weeks ago said he would demand SR50 million as compensation for Reham. He will also demand that Reham Al-Hakami be transferred to a big room instead of the current room she is staying in, she is provided with a housemaid and a nurse and she is transferred to a hospital abroad to get treatment. The lawyer added: “This is not a big amount given what happened to Reham.” He also called for punishing all those responsible for the botched blood transfusion. So far, the Ministry of Health has sacked seven senior officials at the hospital involved in the case, including the director general, the medical director, the two directors responsible for the laboratory and blood bank, the technical supervisor of the blood bank, the coordinator of the AIDS program and the lab technician. The director and technical supervisor of the blood bank were also fined SR10,000 each while the lab technician, who was directly involved in the blood transfusion, was stripped of his license. The ministry also stopped blood donations at Jazan General Hospital until proper screening measures are in place. New procedures have been put in place at the lab and blood bank at Jazan Health Affairs to prevent another such incident happening.
