A DOCTOR found responsible for the death of a woman at Bahrain’s largest public hospital has been spared jail time.
Alia Adel died at the age of 25 at Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC), after collapsing at home on June 11 in 2016, the same day she was prescribed medication for a headache at a health centre.
Her husband claimed at the time that she was left unattended at SMC for almost five hours and by the time doctors examined her she had developed a brain haemorrhage, which caused her to slip into a coma for over a month.
The mother-of-three died in July 2016 after which a medical panel set up by the National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA) concluded that the Bahraini doctor was responsible for the death because he administered the wrong medication.
The doctor was found guilty of manslaughter and medical negligence by the Lower Criminal Court in November 2018, which handed out a suspended sentence of six months.
Diagnose
He lodged an appeal at the High Criminal Appeals Court in February last year which upheld the initial sentence and a final appeal was lodged at the Cassation Court, which was rejected yesterday.
“The doctor caused, accidentally, the victim’s death because he did not follow the origins of medical practice to treat her,” read yesterday’s Cassation Court ruling.
“He did not diagnose her situation probably when the victim arrived at the SMC emergency department and gave her Midazolam as oral pre-medication for local anesthesia, but he did it without protecting her air passage and gave her the wrong amount of liquid solution.
“A medical panel, including 13 doctors, set up by the NHRA concluded that the defendant was responsible for the victim’s death.
“Therefore, he was found guilty of medical negligence and manslaughter.”
The victim’s husband previously said his wife had just given birth to their son and had blood pressure issues.
Ms Adel is survived by her two daughters, Amal, 10, and Fatima, 8, and her son Sayed Mohammed.
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