JEDDAH: The Shariah Health Commission in Jeddah has found a female gynecology and obstetrics doctor in a private hospital in Jeddah guilty of committing mistakes while supervising the delivery of a baby girl, Jumana, which led to her suffering complete paralysis and other serious problems. The judgment fined the doctor, who is said to have left the country, a total of SR265,000 for six blood-money cases in which the amounts differed and SR10,000 for the public right, for violating regulations. Jumana's father has objected to the verdict and said he will appeal it at the Board of Grievances and seek compensation for 15 blood-money cases. He said the money does not compensate him or his daughter for the damage and harm she has suffered, is suffering and will suffer. He said his objection to the ruling stems from the fact that the Shariah Health Commission did not properly assess the money he has spent for eight years to treat his daughter and claimed that he has spent more than SR500,000. In issuing its verdict, the Commission made it clear that the plaintiff and defendant have the right to appeal. The verdict indicates that Jumana, suffered from a number of problems during her birth and her condition worsened because she was shifted from the ward to the labor room without the help of any doctor, which led to Jumana swallowing liquids; suffering from hypoxia, a lack of oxygen; and developing complications including brain atrophy. The man learned of his daughter's brain atrophy when she was four months old, when he took her to a government hospital for a routine vaccination, according to the verdict. The father told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that doctors in the private hospital told him that relative marriage caused his daughter's disability and that she would improve with the passage of time. He said that after one year of medical follow-up, his daughter developed seizures and other serious problems including the loss of sight, hearing and speech, and the ability to swallow and control her bowels. Replying to the Commission judge's question about why he did not file a lawsuit immediately after the child's birth, he said he did not do so because the doctors told him that his daughter's problems were hereditary and resulted from relative marriage. He said the doctors did not tell him about the real reasons for the complications and pointed out that after Jumana was born, he was blessed with two daughters, which refutes the hospital's allegations. The Commission also fined the private hospital SR20,000 for its negligence in following laws defining work procedures and specifying job descriptions. The Commission was chaired by Hamad Al-Sawat; and members, judge Abdul Rahman Al-Ajairi, its deputy; Saad Abdul Khaleq, legal advisor at the Ministry of Health; Dr. Abdul Wahab Bawhab, from the Ministry of Health; and Dr. Tareq Al-Zamzami, from the Ministry of Higher Education.
