JEDDAH: The Ministry of Health objected Saturday to the Administrative Court's verdict that it pay compensation of SR1.7 million to Uhood Al-Jabri, a Saudi woman who learned 35 years after she was born that she had been given to the wrong parents. The ministry appealed the verdict because it said cases of medical errors should be addressed by the Shariah Health Commission. Okaz/Saudi Gazette has obtained new information about the case, through Al-Jabri's attorney, Badr Al-Ruwqi. According to the case, the two newborn baby girls were given to the wrong parents on Oct. 15, 1975 at the Maternity Hospital in Makkah. The nurse on duty made a mistake by placing the wrong wristbands on the two baby girls, Uhood Al-Jabri and Zain Al-Harbi, which led to their being given to the wrong parents. DNA testing confirmed the error and proved that Muhammad Al-Harbi is the biological father of Uhood. Uhood stuck to her demand for compensation for damages she suffered because of this mistake. She said she had lived for 35 years in the home of people who were not her real parents and was deprived of seeing her real father, who died during that time. She also claimed that there was a delay in her getting married because she was more dark-skinned than other members of the family. Uhood said she suffered further trauma because she had to move in with her biological family, which was not as wealthy as the family she grew up with, and the change was sudden and drastic. Dr. Mona Al-Sawwaf, a consultant psychiatrist and head of the Psychiatry Unit at King Fahd Hospital in Jeddah, said “the differences in the girls' skin colors raised doubts, but now, after 35 years, they will feel satisfaction after confirming their lineage and ending those uncertainties.” She said treatment would help the two women to adapt to their new situations. Al-Ruwqi said he and his client are waiting for the Court of Appeal to evaluate the verdict issued against the state's public treasury and, as such, must be scrutinized. The Administrative Court calculated the compensation at the rate of SR50,000 per year, on the basis of compensation it set at that rate in another case. Because the error continued for 34 years 9 months and 9 days, the total compensation for Uhood reached SR1,738,750. The verdict also stated that the Ministry of Health will be forced to treat the woman for psychological trauma due to the error and pay her lawyer's fees reaching SR100,000. A Ministry of Health representative replied to the lawsuit and said cases of this nature should be looked into not by the courts, but by the Shariah Health Commission, according to Articles 27 and 34 of the Regulation for Practicing Health Professions. Al-Ruwqi stressed that what has happened to his client is the result of negligence by the Ministry of Health, not a medical error by a health practitioner, which would be investigated by the Commission.
