Jazan: The Ministry of Health is facing a lawsuit after hospital staff wrongly injected a girl with AIDS-infected blood.
A source revealed that the girl, Riham was admitted to Jazan Public Hospital three years ago.
"Riham was at the hospital to have a blood transfusion as she suffered from sickle-cell anaemia. She was injected by a nurse and a doctor had run a full checkup on her before she left the hospital.
"Two days after she was injected, she was admitted to King Fahad Central Hospital where she was informed that she had the blood of an AIDS patient transferred into her," said the source.
The source added the Ministry of Health had investigated the case and reported that the blood transferred was from a donor and not imported blood.
"The blood bank’s last import was in 1985. The nurse who injected the blood into Riham did not know that it came from a donor with AIDS. The ministry then fired the director general, medical director and directors of laboratory and blood bank of the hospital," he said.
"The ministry closed down blood donations to the blood bank of Jazan Public Hospital until further notice. The ministry also rearranged the hierarchy of laboratories and blood banks under the Jazan Health Affairs Directorate,” added the source
However, the supervising doctor in Riham’s case Sami Al-Hajjar said that medical and laboratory reports done in King Faisal Specialized Hospital and the research center in Riyadh show that the girl's blood is now free from AIDS.
"The patient underwent three blood tests at different periods. The results in Mayo American Clinic revealed that the virus is dormant. The medical team consulted an American doctor from Harvard University to run detailed tests and the results revealed that the virus is inactive in Riham’s blood,” said Al-Hajjar.
The family's lawyer Ibrahim Al-Hikami said there will be a court hearing against the Ministry of Health on November 21.
"The lawsuit includes medical reports of the emotional and psychological well-being of the parents of Riham. The lawsuit also demands a compensation of SR50 million to the family of Riham as the Ministry of Health was negligent in treating her and the former minister had admitted that the incident was due to a medical error," said Al-Hikami.