A citizen in Madina has accused the medical staff in King Fahd Hospital of negligence which resulted in his 60-year-old mother developing gangrene. Fawzi Al-Rehaili said his mother was admitted to the hospital last month suffering from fever and was kept for one day in the emergency ward. Doctors, Al-Rehaili added, then referred her to the kidney department which refused to admit her on the grounds that her ailment had nothing to do with her kidneys. After two days, he said, his mother's condition worsened which forced the hospital management to move her to ICU. Al-Rehaili said he noticed that the color of his mother's fingers had changed and on questioning the doctors, he was told that this was normal. He said this explanation did not convince him because his mother's condition deteriorated rapidly. Abdul Razak Hafez, spokesman of the Health Directorate in Madina, said the patient was treated in the emergency ward where urgent medical tests showed that she was suffering from Hepatitis C and chronic renal failure. He advised the patient's son to approach the authorities concerned at Health Affairs to lodge a complaint against the negligent doctors.
