MADINAH — The Department of Health Affairs in Madinah has denied claims by an Arab pharmacist that 223 patients died over two years because of medical mistakes at a private hospital in the holy city. "The pharmacist was being vindictive because the hospital fired him for being incompetent," a Health Affairs spokesman said. The spokesman told Al-Watan newspaper that the pharmacist was imprisoned for six months after he was convicted of spreading false accusations against the hospital but was released four months later under a royal pardon. The spokesman said the hospital sacked the pharmacist and paid him all his dues with the intention of issuing him with a final exit visa. The pharmacist, who was not named, claimed that 130 patients died in 2012 and 93 in 2011 due to medical mistakes committed by doctors at the private hospital. He had filed complaints against the hospital with the Interior Ministry, Madinah Health Affairs, the Madinah Governorate and the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nazaha). He also accused the hospital of financial corruption. The spokesman said on instructions from the governorate the pharmacist's allegations were investigated for a year, only to be judged as false and vindictive. The governorate formed a special committee to verify the findings of the Health Affairs department's investigation committee. After six months of investigations and checks, the committee reached the conclusion that the pharmacist's allegations were untrue. The pharmacist circulated these allegations on social networking sites. He also accused the hospital of financial corruption, including paying money to a senior Health Affairs official as reward for issuing clearance certificates to the hospital several times. The pharmacist said the hospital had unjustifiably gained millions of riyals from the Ministry of Health and medical insurance companies by forging the stamps of consultants on prescriptions. He said scores of patients at the ICU died due to many medical violations and errors. In his letter to the Nazaha, the pharmacist cited a caesarian section on a woman who was diabetic and had liver troubles in addition to asthma as a serious case. “She gave birth to a baby who was born with cornea bleeding and damage to the brain cells but the delivery report was altered to say that the baby was safe and in good health,” he said. The director of pharmacies at the hospital had sent a letter to the hospital's director accusing the pharmacist of being unable to do his job properly because of his psychological and general health condition.
