The father of a boy who died a few hours after a blood transfusion at the Sibya Public Hospital refused to receive his son's body, citing suspicion of foul play. Yahyia Abdullah, the father of the 20-month-old Wisam, refused to take delivery of the body for burial, and demanded the formation of a neutral and independent medical committee to probe the causes of his son's death. The London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat quoted him on Friday as saying he would not believe the findings of a committee the hospital itself had formed, which exonerated the hospital and its staff of any wrongdoing that might have led to Wisam's death. Wisam Abdullah had been rushed to the hospital's emergency room after he fell ill earlier last week. Abdullah said his late son was suffering from a simple cough. He added that a doctor at the emergency room had diagnosed the child as suffering from a chest infection. The doctor, said Abdullah, had a dispute with another doctor over whether the boy should be admitted. The other doctor saw that the boy's condition was not critical enough to warrant admitting him to the hospital. Abdullah added that after the heated argument, the doctor in charge of the night shift ordered Wisam's admission, claiming that the child's condition was not serious before blood was transfused to him. He said that half an hour after the blood transfusion, his son's condition had rapidly deteriorated, and all attempts made by doctors to revive him failed. A spokesman of the hospital denied the allegations, saying that the child was suffering from sickle anemia and acute pneumonia, which is why he was supplied with fresh blood. The spokesman added that the Director of Heath Affairs in Sibya ordered the formation of a committee to look into the cause of the death. He said the committee found that the cause of the death was the sickle anemia and acute pneumonia, and not caused by any wrongdoing or malpractice the part of the hospital's staff. __
