TAIF — A Saudi father has claimed that his 3-year-old girl, who was admitted to the Children's Hospital in Taif suffering from a viral infection in the mouth, was given someone else's medicine. Khaled Al-Harithy said his daughter, Tala, was given medication meant for a 7-month-old boy suffering from cardiac disease and vice versa, Al-Hayat newspaper reported on Monday. The children were sharing the same room. Spokesman for Taif Health Affairs Siraj Al-Humaidan confirmed the incident and said a committee has been formed to investigate the case. He said the medicine given to the baby boy was a single dose of antibiotics that would have no adverse effects on him. He said the nurse made the mistake because the mothers changed the beds of the two children without informing her. Al-Harithy said he brought his daughter to the hospital early Saturday where she was admitted and given a correct dose of intravenous antibiotics. “When the nurse came with the second dose at about 1 p.m., she was confused and gave my daughter the medication prescribed for the cardiac child,” he said. He said the mother of the baby boy discovered that the empty bottle contained a medicine different from the one prescribed by the doctor for her baby boy and informed the nurse. “The nurse tried to rectify her mistake by replacing the empty bottles and exchanging the names but the mother prevented her,” he said. He said: “My daughter is now weak and cannot focus. “Maybe this is the result of the incorrect medicine. “I will follow up the case until the nurse is punished for her mistake.”
