Saudi Gazette report DAMMAM — King Khalid General Hospital (KKGH) at Hafr Al-Batin has refused to release any information to the family of a patient who is lying at the hospital's ICU following a medical procedure. Asriyah, 25, has been suffering from epilepsy since she was a child. Every time she gets a seizure, she goes to Al-Qaisoomah Hospital or King Khalid General Hospital for short treatment then returns home in perfect health. Her brother said she was admitted to the Dammam hospital three weeks ago following a seizure. After the doctor ran a CT brain scan, he said Asriyah was suffering from meningitis and insisted that she undergo surgery. “I told the doctor that my sister is epileptic and has been in and out several times and she does not suffer from meningitis,” Asriyah's brother said. But the doctor told him he knew better. He requested a biopsy of the spinal cord. Asriyah was admitted for the procedure and her other sister was accompanying her. “My sister called me at 3 a.m. saying Asriyah had gone into a coma and had been admitted to the ICU.” When Asriyah's brother arrived at the hospital, he was not allowed to see her and had to wait until the morning. The doctor told him that his sister did not have meningitis. “My sister's condition had deteriorated and she was connected to a ventilator.” Three days later, the hospital's medical report said Asriyah suffered renal and liver failure and was brain dead. When the brother asked the hospital about the type of treatment his sister was provided with, he was refused any information. When he tried to get her file, the employee told him Asriyah's file was confidential and no one was allowed to make a copy of it. Asriyah's family requested her referral to King Fahd Specialist Hospital (KFSH) in Dammam but the specialist hospital refused to accept the case. KFSH public relations director Muhammad Al-Meqaibil said the King Khalid General Hospital report said the patient suffered from non-stop seizures and was in the ICU. “The consultant at our hospital refused to accept the case because her condition was not stable and there was a danger in transferring her. He said such cases could be treated at any general hospital,” he said.
