Okaz/Saudi Gazette ABHA — A committee from the Department of Health Affairs in Asir has started investigating the death of a pregnant Saudi woman who came to the Mahayil Asir General Hospital complaining about severe headache. The news of the unexpected demise of Saliha Asiri went viral on social media with people questioning the real cause of her death. They raised fears that a serious medical mistake might have happened. The hospital has so far kept silent on the issue but the Asir governorate said a committee would investigate the case and reveal the actual cause of the woman's death. Talie Asiri, a brother of Saliha's husband Ibrahim, said the committee subpoenaed his brother for a meeting but he could not go due to psychological trauma. Talie, who represented his brother instead, said the committee asked him if he suspected anyone among the hospital's staff in particular had caused the death of his brother's wife but he answered in the negative. "I told the committee that I want anyone who was involved in the case to be investigated and to show us the result of the investigations," he said. Talie said the committee called all the staff members who dealt with the case and questioned each one of them. "While being questioned, the staff members exchanged blame among themselves," he added. The hospital's director, Mohammed Zaid, confirmed the arrival of the committee but declined to talk about the details. "The committee belongs to the department of the health affairs. It does not include any of the hospital's staff," he said. Asked about the reasons behind Saliha's death, the director said he was waiting for the results of the investigations. "All that I can say is Saliha stayed for 24 hours in the hospital before she was transferred to Asir Central Hospital," he said. Asked if suspected any medical mistake behind her death, the director said this would be clear only when the investigations are over. Saliha's father had claimed that she died after two hospitals in Asir province refused to treat her. He said Asir Central Hospital and the maternity hospital in Mahalla refused to admit her when she was transferred there from Mahayil Asir General Hospital last week. The Asir hospital refused to admit her saying there was no prior medical coordination while the Mahalla hospital claimed that they did not have the equipment needed to deal with her condition. The woman was six months pregnant and doctors at the Mahayil hospital had told her husband that the baby was dead. Saliha's dream was to live with her husband in their new home, which her husband was building. She had been living with her father because her husband could not complete the house.
