HAIL – An elderly woman died at Hail General Hospital last Thursday allegedly after a power outage caused oxygen devices to break down. Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah has given directives to investigate the case. The incident came a week after Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Nekhailan, the hospital's director, resigned following the death of a woman at the hospital due to renal failure caused by alleged medical error. In an official statement, the ministry said a committee headed by Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Ghamdi, director general of hospitals, would look into the circumstances that caused oxygen devices to stop functioning abruptly. The results of the investigations will be sent to the minister and proper action will be taken against negligent hospital staff. Dr. Al-Ghamdi said the committee was still investigating the circumstances that led to the death of the 37-year-old woman in the hospital earlier. He did not rule out the possibility of Dr. Al-Nekhailan, the former director, and other officials of the hospital facing investigation. “We met with the medical and technical staff at the ICU as part of our investigations. The final report will be sent to the minister when we qre done with the interviews.” A medical source at the Hail General Hospital, meanwhile, denied reports which claimed that the elderly woman died of oxygen shortage. The source said the oxygen tubes were taken off from all five patients in the ICU and all of them were hooked up to ventilators within a matter of seconds. “The whole process took a few seconds and all patients, including children at pediatric ICU, were in good health and did not develop any complications,” the source added. The old woman suffered from a number of complications, including heart and renal failure, hypertension and diabetes, the source noted. She was admitted into the ICU due to acute pulmonitis and respiratory problems. She had been under surveillance since her admission and she died three days later. The source said her medical report showed that the woman died of sepsis — the presence of harmful bacteria and their toxins in tissues — and acute pulmonitis, not shortage of oxygen. — SG
