An aged Saudi woman suffering from kidney, lung and chest cancer slipped into a ten-day coma as most of the healthcare facilities refused to provide her with medical attention on the pretext of the advanced stage of the disease and her old age. Narrating the ordeal of the aged patient, her son, Riyadh Al-Ghamdi, said that around six private and government hospitals in Jeddah had refused to handle the case. Earlier, when she was suffering from inflammations, he added, her doctors failed to make proper diagnosis of her ailment. However, Ghamdi said, when the situation aggravated the patient was taken to a few private hospitals. He said that at one such hospital the lady underwent various radiological tests and it emerged that she was suffering from lungs, right kidney, pleural membrane and chest cancer. She was advised to consult an oncologist but she slipped into a coma for ten days. Ghamdi said that he took his mother to a number of reputed private hospitals but none responded positively citing her old age and the advanced level of the disease. He deplored that even some hospitals refused her admission due to unavailability of beds. He said that even the government hospitals meted out similar treatment to them. However, Dr. Sami Badawood, Director of Health Affairs in Jeddah, has expressed his readiness to help the female patient. He has asked her relatives to submit her medical reports to him at the earliest so that his department could look into the matter and forward the case to some suitable healthcare facility.
