The committee investigating the death of dentist Tariq Al-Juhani while undergoing surgery at a private hospital last December said Tuesday that six persons are thought to be at fault. Three anesthetists, a surgeon, and the General and Medical directors of the hospital were all cited as responsible during Tuesday's hearing, the fifth in the case, which also revealed further concerns on the part of investigators. “The involvement of doctors who have contracts with the hospital but no Medical Specialties Commission health licenses shows that the hospital ignored regulations,” said Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Ojairi, chairman of the committee. Tariq Aal Ibrahim, the lawyer acting on behalf of Al-Juhani's family, said that other new information revealed on Tuesday concerned an unlicensed intensive care unit doctor, and a “severe shortage of medical supplies and equipment, including operation theaters”. “The hospital is also poorly organized, in that four doctors unlicensed by the Medical Specialties Commission took part in the surgical operation on Al-Juhani,” Aal Ibrahim said. Saudi Gazette reported on April 21 that the previous committee hearing identified the main medical error leading to the patient's death as the use of a “long-term” rather than short-term neuromuscular blocking anesthetic ahead of the operation. Nadia Bandaqji, a sister of Al-Juhani and herself a cosmetic surgery consultant at King Abdulaziz University, told Okaz that specialists said a “short-term dose should have been used in accordance with (Al-Juhani's) physical status”. The anesthetist accused of malpractice in the case was also reported as having changed her statements to the investigation committee during the fourth hearing, claiming she had previously been “forced into admitting responsibility”. Tariq Al-Juhani died on Dec. 17 after a 21-day coma following a weight-reduction operation, with the prosecution blaming an incorrect anesthetic dose.
