Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — The Health Affairs Directorate in Jeddah on Wednesday dismissed allegations of slackness in quickly dealing with the case of a young Saudi woman who was admitted to Al-Thaqr Hospital in critical condition on Monday. The ministry was reacting to a video clip circulating on social media websites featuring one of the patient's relatives under the headline: "Save the Al-Thaqr Orphan." In the video, the relative accused the Health Affairs Directorate, the hospital and the Ministry of Health of slackness in transferring the patient to a specialized hospital in Jeddah or Riyadh. The relative also appealed to the authorities to intervene to save the patient and transfer her out of Al-Thaqr Hospital. In a press statement on Wednesday, the Health Affairs strongly refuted the claims by the patient's relative. The statement said the Health Affairs contacted the hospital, which provided a comprehensive medical report on her condition. According to the medical report, the 27-year-old patient suffered from severe headache and vomiting for two days before she was brought to the emergency room on Monday. The statement said when the patient was brought into the emergency room, her heart and respiratory system were not functioning. The medical team in the emergency room tried to resuscitate the patient for 10 minutes, but she slipped into a deep coma and her eyeballs expanded. A CT scan showed severe bleeding in her brain, which might have been caused by malfunctioning or puncturing of a blood vessel. The Health Affairs said the woman was put on life support and she was still receiving treatment, but her condition was not improving. The medical report said the woman was brain dead following severe hemorrhage. According to the Health Affairs, the hospital management and doctors coordinated her transfer to one of the specialist hospitals in the city, but they eventually decided against it because surgical intervention was impossible as the woman's condition was continually regressing. The Health Affairs said it assigned a consultant neurologist from King Fahd General Hospital in Jeddah to examine her and give a second opinion but he reached the same conclusion and agreed with the previous diagnosis.
