I am writing with regard to the articles "‘Error resulted in removal of son's testicle'" (Oct. 29) and "Zubaida's father: My daughter's blood is on doctor's hands" (Oct. 29). It would seem that a lot of the doctors in Saudi Arabia aren't what they claim to be. Sadly, most doctors nowadays get into medicine for the money that can be had, and not because they genuinely want to help people. It's high time someone rooted out these fly-by-night doctors and replaced them with more suitable practitioners. Frank, Online response II. Over the past few months, I have noticed many instances of medical error in the Kingdom. The authorities must take action as this is a matter of life and death. My friend's wife, after giving birth through C-section, was discharged improperly with cotton gauze still inside her body. A doctor gave a young girl an injection causing her to contract HIV and now we learn of a girl in need of an appendectomy being killed because of a doctor's ignorance. What is happening here? Fahd, Online response III. I can't imagine what went wrong. An appendectomy is a minimally invasive procedure. In my country, it is considered to be minor surgery and even public hospitals perform hundreds of such operations without a single mishap. I can't possibly imagine how it turned out so bad that it cost the life of a helpless young girl. RN, Online response IV. I have never read of so much misdiagnosis and so many serious medical errors in Saudi Arabia. What is wrong with our doctors here? The government must investigate the hospitals where these mistakes are being made. Every surgery should be monitored by video. Children should be dealt with only by qualified pediatric doctors. Balqees Al-Mutawa, Online response
