Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Their lives changed the day she was born..


Little Wadha is a cute, adorable five year old child. She is the apple of her father's eye being the first born and like all kids she loves going outside and playing with other children but due to her medical condition she is unable to enjoy her life to the fullest. She was born in the UK after her parents moved there to allow her dad to complete his masters degree in law. Wadha was born with a hole in the heart which is a very common congenital heart defect that can be fixed very easily through advanced technological advancements that we have nowadays. Almost 90% of kids with this type of medical condition lead very normal and productive lives as the hole simply closes on its own over time or by a simple medical procedure. Wadha's parents nightmare started when the child was moved to the ICU after delivery and contracted a nosocomial infection or a hospital acquired infection due to unsterilized medical equipment. The infection spread quickly and targeted Wadha's heart and so she required an urgent operation to remove the infection which was becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics.

Unfortunately due to negligence on the part of the surgeon, the infection was scraped away but at the same time the doctor damaged her heart valve. A few days after the surgery the little girls medical condition worsened. Her dad then decided to lay a complaint against the surgeon and the hospital with the UK medical ethics committee. The hospital management and the surgeon were not willing to accept the negligence carried out on their part. Wadha's dad being a lawyer himself then decided to proceed with legal action with the assistance of the Saudi embassy in London. Mr.Al Dossari related his four year ordeal to me regarding the numerous court appearances in the UK and the hostility and resentment he faced by the medical team that treated his daughter. The hospital refused to accept responsibility for the little girl's deteriorating medical condition until realizing that Mr. Al Dossari had sufficient evidence against them. The hospital management then decided to meet with Mr. Al Dossari in private and hand him an apology letter along with a healthy sum of money. Wadha's dad refused the plea bargain and proceeded with legal action. After four years of court proceedings the judge ruled in favour of Mr. Al Dossari. He also ordered that the hospital be shut down due to a lack of hygiene and suspended the surgeon from practicing medicine for a period of six years internationally. The hospital management was naturally not impressed with the outcome and then through media channels implicated Mr. Al Dossari as being part of a terrorist organization having links with Al Qaeeda. They claimed that Mr. Dossari was in the UK not to study or further his degree but was in the country to plot a terror attack. Mr. Al Dossari related to me that his life over the past four years has been a nightmare and that if he wasn't a Muslim having full faith in ALLAH he would not have been able to go through this trial and tribulation that he and his wife have faced whilst in the UK. The hospital superintendent had connections with various media moghuls to turn the story upside down and implicate Mr. Al Dossari as having ties with terrorist organizations and hence did not deserve to receive medical treatment in the UK in the first place. The little girl though has British nationality as she was born in the UK.
The outcome though of their dilemma was that the lawyer representing the hospital realized that his clients were using the media to taint the image of Wadha's dad simply because he is a Muslim attired in an Islamic dress code and adopting a full Islamic way of life.On witnessing how Wadhas dad won the trial despite many hardships and obstacles, the man became a Muslim and opted to no longer represent the hospital in any further legal proceedings.


 Mr. Al Dossari mentioned that in Saudi there is a common misconception that anything from the west is the best. Many VIP members of society would opt to have doctors from Canada or the USA or the UK and look down upon Saudi doctors as though the quality of care provided by a Saudi doctor is inferior to the care given in the UK or the USA for that matter. He stated that this type of attitude needs to change. Wadha has thus far undergone five operations. She had three unsuccessful operations in the UK and has thus far had two successful operations in Saudi Arabia by a Saudi surgeon to repair the damaged heart valve as well as the hole in the heart. With God's grace she has one more operation left which will be carried out when she reaches the age of ten years. Wadhas dad said that he can never forget the kindness and generosity shown to him by all the Muslim communities in the UK who came out in their hundreds to the court house to witness the court proceedings. He mentioned that they had taken to the streets after the media implicated Mr. Al Dossari as being part of a terrorist organization. I guess this is the deceitful mannerism of the west. Whenever a western country faces any kind of loss they utilize the media to disseminate incorrect information to the masses to change the mindset of the people in their favour. After all, the television is the biggest weapon of mass destruction in my opinion and perhaps it is for that reason that the world famous Steve Jobs banned his own kids from watching any television.With God's help Mr. Al Dossari has passed his life's biggest test and trial according to him and I pray that little Wadha's frail body gets stronger each day so that she can enjoy a normal life like any other child.

Have you been a victim of gross medical negligence on the part of the physician, attending nurse or the hospital staff in general? Let us know what your experience has been like. Was there any legal action taken? If yes, what was the outcome of the legal proceedings?

Source:

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/women-saudi-arabia-photos/ - pictures