The father of a Jizan Prison inmate who died four years ago following complications from surgery at Sabya General Hospital has demanded an independent investigation into his son's death. The case was heard by the Shariah Medical Committee, a move Ali Al-Maliki describes as “making no sense”, given that the Board of Grievance had previously identified King Fahd Central Hospital and Sabya General Hospital in Jizan as the main culprits. Abdullah Ali Jubran Al-Malki had been in prison for a year when in 2007 he was admitted to hospital suffering from a tumor in the neck. Surgery resulted in complications that led to his death. The Board of Grievances subsequently absolved Jizan Prisons and blamed the Health Affairs-run King Fahd Central Hospital and Sabya General Hospital for a “series of errors beginning with incorrect diagnoses and ending with discharging the patient before ensuring he was fit for release.” The Board's verdict noted errors on the part of the prison, but said they were unrelated to the death of the inmate. The case, the Board said, concerns solely medical malpractice. An investigation committee formed by the regional Emir concluded that medical error was committed at King Fahd Hospital when the patient was referred to Sabya General Hospital, saying that the surgery should have been conducted at the former hospital itself. The committee also recommended that Health Affairs punish the doctors and reception staff at Sabya Hospital for failing to register him in hospital records and delaying the tumor-removal surgery. The committee added that a tumor in the deceased's head was also not diagnosed, leading to a deterioration in his condition. Al-Maliki said that the Board of Grievances, based in Asir, referred the case to the Shariah Committee which then failed to take any action against those responsible, instead passing the case over to Jizan Health Affairs. “This case has been going on now for four years, and I'm an old man and I can't be going back and forth between Asir and Jizan all the time. It's a lot of time and effort,” Al-Maliki said. “Only two doctors were summoned by the Board of Grievances. It needs an independent inquiry.”
