The Saudi woman who had a pair of surgical scissors left in her abdomen after an operation over three years ago has spoken for the first time about her three-year ordeal and expressed her disappointment at the decision to grant her only SR40,000 in compensation. Umm Abdul Malik, said she was especially disappointed about the ruling by the Shariah Medical Commission to fine the hospital SR40,000 and to absolve the doctor and his medical team – all Egyptian nationals – of any wrongdoing. Following is the text of the interview: Q: How did you receive the verdict by the Shariah Medical Commission? A: I attended the session in the presence of a lawyer. The doctor and the medical team who forgot the pair of scissors in my abdomen, was also present. There was astonishment when a member of the committee announced the verdict to fine the hospital and congratulated the doctor by saying, “Congratulations! You are innocent, doctor.” Q: Did you object to the verdict? A: The way the verdict was announced was inappropriate and it affected us a great deal emotionally. Not only this, the doctor asked the member of the Shariah Medical Commission, “Can I travel now?” The commission member said he was free to travel to his country if he wanted to. So he left the session with his friends congratulating him. At the same time, we objected to the verdict. Q: Why were you not happy with the verdict? A: Because it cannot be compared to the magnitude of the harm I suffered, both financially and to my health. I took costly medication and had numerous visits to hospitals for checkups, radiology and followup consultations. Over the past three years, all this cost us nearly SR1 million. Furthermore, 15 cm of my intestines was removed during the operation to extract the pair of scissors. Q: What about the story of you visiting Qur'an reciters for Ruqyah treatment? A: After visiting several hospitals without any positive results, and especially since I suffered from epilepsy attacks, we thought the reason could be “an evil eye” (Ain) or a magic spell. So we visited several Qur'an reciters. Some of them said it was an evil eye while others said it was a magic spell. Q: Didn't you feel the pair of scissors in your abdomen during the 40 months? A: I had severe pain in my abdomen. In the beginning I thought it was probably due to the two operations I had in one year. With the increasing bouts of epilepsy and headaches I forgot the pain in my abdomen. Q: Where was the pair of scissors taken after its removal? A: Immediately after the operation, a committee from the Ministry of Health came and took the pair of scissors because an investigation was under way. It is still with them. Q: Weren't X-rays conducted to determine the reason? A: No, because the doctors were concentrating on the epilepsy and migraine attacks without giving enough attention to the abdominal pain. Most of the symptoms were being treated by prescription pain-killers only. Q: How is your health now? A: The pair of scissors has caused a number of problems including migraine, epilepsy, blood poisoning, abdominal pain and depression. I'm still using seven medicines and having cortisone injections. Q: What is the reason for the continuous pain? A: The reason is that a very small piece of the scissors is still in my intestines. The doctor could not remove it during the operation because it had become rusty and the surgery necessitated removing other vulnerable parts of the intestines. So the doctor preferred to leave the piece where it was so as not to put my health at risk. Q: How are you dealing with the remnants of the pair of scissors? A: The doctor prescribed some traditional medicines and I hope the effect will disappear especially since the medical scissors was made of mercury, lead and silver, which can lead to blood poisoning. Q: While the case was in progress, didn't the hospital or doctor try to reach an amicable solution with you? A: No, nothing of the kind happened. If they had requested an amicable settlement we could have reached some solution. But now the case has reached higher judicial authorities and we will not accept anything but a verdict from the Board of Grievances, whose justice we trust. Q: Has the Board of Grievances set a date for your case? A: Our lawyer submitted all the required documents a time ago and we are still waiting for a court date. We hope the doctor and his medical team will be barred from traveling until the case is over and we are compensated appropriately.
