DAMMAM – The brother of a woman who died after receiving a blood transfusion at Dammam Medical Complex has rejected the results of an investigation into her death that claimed the transfusion was not to blame. Mishal Al-Metairi said he would take legal action after hearing the results of the medical committee formed by the General Directorate of Health Affairs in Dammam that was investigating his sister Amal's death. He has maintained that the blood she received was contaminated and that medical staff were negligent during her three-month stay in hospital. He said the hospital has refused to give a medical report outlining the cause of her death. He said his sister didn't leave Dammam for one year, adding that this poses the question about how she died from malaria, as revealed by the committee report. He wanted an independent committee to look into her death. He said the committee did not refer in its report to the cause of his sister's death, especially as her health started deteriorating immediately after receiving a blood transfusion. He said just before her death the treating doctor started giving her double the quantity of blood she was given in the first month without stating why. In its report the committee said the blood given to her in the last three months was malaria free. The committee said when it checked the patient's file it found Amal received a number of blood units because she was suffering from thalassemia. The report said that she visited the hospital on Oct. 14, 2011, as she was suffering from fever, renal failure, a liver disorder and hemophilia (non-coagulation of blood). — SG
