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NAJRAN – A Ministry of Health committee investigating the death of a woman while she was undergoing an appendectomy late last year, on Tuesday listened to the testimony of her husband.

Faisal Mansour Al-Makrami, the husband of Arwa, the woman who died on the operation table on the third day of Eid Al-Adha last year, accused the medical team which conducted the operation at King Khaled Hospital here of negligence.

After testifying before the committee, Al-Makrami said the investigation includes all those who dealt with his wifes case from the time she was taken to the hospitals emergency room until she was pronounced dead.

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DHULUM – The Ministry of Health has announced stiff penalties of fines up to SR100,000 and prison of up to six months for any health practitioner found to have spread false rumors about any co-worker.

If found guilty, the health practitioner faces dismissal and withdrawal of his or her medical license.

According to the new regulations, the maximum penalty may be applied if it is found that false allegations are made about forging of qualifications and moral crimes.

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JEDDAH – The Stop TB (tuberculoses) Group of Saudi Arabia will launch its annual campaign here March 15.

The campaign, to continue till March 26, under the patronage of Prince Mishal Bin Majed, Governor of Jeddah, is being organized with the cooperation of the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization in six major malls with new and innovative ideas for combating this deadly disease.

This year, the motto for the Stop TB 2010 campaign has been chosen by the World Health Organization which is introducing new ways to diagnose the disease and develop other research, Mohammed Bakhrieba, the founder of the Stop TB Group of Saudi Arabia, told Saudi Gazette.

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JEDDAH/TAIF/DHAMAD – Residents and shop workers in a southern Jeddah district are accustomed to seeing Muhammad Sultan running around in the streets scratching his body.

His elderly mother blames herself for her only childs condition. “For 16 years he has suffered from mental illness. I noticed his silence and introversion but I thought it would go away, until he was fired from his job because he had been absent. Maybe my failure to take him to doctors when it first occurred made his suffering worse,” she said.

She said that his condition has worsened recently, to the point where he often “ate the leaves of trees. But he doesnt hurt anybody”, the mother added. She said Muhammad spends his days sitting in front of nearby shops and only comes home to eat or sleep.

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RIYADH – The responsibility for the Kingdoms food standards will soon be transferred from the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) to the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA).

This was confirmed Tuesday by the Executive President of the SFDA Dr. Muhammad Al-Kanhal.

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MADINA – The Ministry of Health has sent a team to examine a mentally-ill man who has been locked in a dark room at his parents house in the Eastern Harra District for three years because he is a danger to himself and others.

This comes almost a week after Omars case was highlighted in the media, and after reports from the Human Rights Commission and the Ministry of Social Affairs.

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DAMMAM – Health Affairs in the Eastern Province has said that it recorded 573 regulations violations by medical centers in 2009.

Regional Health Affairs head Tariq Al-Salim said his staff monitored the work of 969 medical practices, including private hospitals and clinics, as well as medical complexes, pharmacies, medicine depositories, and medical support services centers.

“We carry out continual inspections of private practices throughout the year to ensure that regulations are being complied with,” Al-Salim said. “Any failures to comply are reported to a special committee at Health Affairs in the region to look into each case and punish accordingly following Ministry of Health guidelines.”

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RIYADH – Abdul Aziz Al-Rabeah, Minister of Health, signed on Monday a contract for the construction of a new hospital in the Al-Shisha District of Makkah.

The King Faisal Hospital, to be constructed within three years, will be a 300-bed multi-story tower, with the cost of construction projected to be SR158 million.

It is the third such construction project in Makkah announced in recent months.

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JEDDAH – 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.

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JEDDAH – Approval has been given by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, for a nationwide campaign to fight tooth decay which specialists say afflicts around 90 percent of the Kingdoms children.

“The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques association with the campaign will lend it a lot of weight,” said Hassan Halwani, head of the National Tooth Protection Campaign. “Tooth decay is a serious problem in our children.”

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