DAMMAM — The family of Asriyah, the 25-year-old woman who died Wednesday at King Khalid General Hospital (KKGH) in Hafr Al-Batin allegedly due to a gross medical error, received a call from Hafr Al-Batin Health Affairs two days after her death, informing them that a committee has approved the request by the family to airlift Asriyah to another hospital. Mardi Al-Enezi, the woman's brother, said the Health Affairs only called the family after Asriyah's story was published in the media and the officials wanted “to cover themselves and show that they cared about patients, which is not true.” Al-Enezi said: “My sister died. I wish the officials had called us earlier to give us this news, not after her death.” He said the doctor who treated his sister four months ago and gave her medication denied that he ever saw her. The doctor even said he did not have any file in the name of the patient, Al-Enezi added. However, Asriyah's family discovered some old appointment slips in her room with the doctor's name on it. “The doctor is trying to wash his hands off my sister's death as if he has not been responsible.” The Hafr Al-Batin governor sent a letter more than 10 days ago to the Health Affairs and asked them about the causes of delay in airlifting Asriyah to another hospital. However, no one responded to the letter. Al-Enezi said the Health Affairs told them that in order for Asriyah to be airlifted to another hospital, the treating doctor should report that she was in a very critical condition. Al-Enezi went to the doctor and asked him to write a medical report to this effect but the latter refused. “I'm going to appoint a lawyer to bring a lawsuit against the hospital that has been responsible for medical errors that claimed the lives of several patients.” Asriyah had been suffering from epilepsy since childhood. She was admitted to KKGH three weeks ago following a seizure. After the doctor ran a CT brain scan, he claimed that she was suffering from meningitis and insisted that she undergo surgical operation. Although her brother tried in vain to convince the doctor Asriyah did not have meningitis, the doctor requested a biopsy of Asryiah's spinal cord. Following the procedure, Asriyah went into a coma and was admitted into the ICU. Later that day, she was connected to a mechanical ventilator and was pronounced brain dead. She died not long after that.
