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5. Health Conditions in
the Palestinian Territories are deteriorating:
Since the establishment of the Palestinian
Authority in Gaza Strip and some parts of the West Bank, which took over
responsibility of health services and medical care, no major development
has been witnessed in this field. Government hospitals in the Palestinian
areas still face certain problems and difficulties in providing adequate
health care to the citizens. Following are some examples of those.
a) Death of Hassan Shalah
Mahdi Shalah, 30 years old, son of the
victim, told the PHRMG:
[ In April 2000, My father, Hassan Shalah 73
years old, suffered from pains in his abdomen, so we took him to several
physicians who said there was nothing serious. Then we took him to the
private clinic of Dr. Elias Arteen who advised us to conduct a speculum on
him. The result was that he had obstruction in his duodenum. Dr. Elias
decided that a surgery had to be done at Nasser hospital in Khan-Yunis, at
the beginning we refused and said we would take him to Egypt for the
surgery, because we did not trust the local hospital, but Dr. Elias said
it was a simple surgery and there was no need to worry ]
[ He entered Nasser hospital on 25.5.2000
and immediately Dr. Elias Arteen made the surgery at 11.30 a.m. on the
same day. He said the surgery was very successful but my father had to
stay in the intensive care unit for 4-5 days. But on 28.5 we were
surprised when they took my father out from the intensive care to put him
in the ordinary internal ward, which caused serious breathing problems for
him. Dr. Hafez Abu-Khousa who was present made some checks and said that
the breathing problems were not due to the surgery but because he was
removed from the intensive care unit. We continued to demand that he be
taken back to the intensive care unit, but they did not listen to us. In
fact, when my brother called Ghassan Kalakh, a doctor from the intensive
care unit, to see my father, he said that it was not serious and my father
was only “pampering or pretending” ]
[ Dr. Elias Arteen called Dr. Abu-Khousa and
told him that my father needed urgently to go back to the intensive care
unit, and Dr. Abu-Khousa in turn demanded so, but doctors in the intensive
care unit claimed there was no room there (although we saw a vacant bed in
it). Dr. Elias asked Dr. Kalakh to sign on the medical report of my father
that he refused to take him back to the intensive care unit but Dr. Kalakh
refused. At the end, five minutes before my father passed away, they came
to take him to the intensive care, but he died on the way there. At that
moment, all the doctors who knew about the case disappeared from the
hospital, and the police arrived. Members of the family were shocked and
got very angry and broke chairs and windows. The police force, about 20 of
them, removed the family members from the hospital by force, in fact one
policeman shot at me and hit the light, and one nurse fell because of fear
from gun-fire ]
[ The following day, on 29.5.00, they gave
us the body to bury it. They also gave us a report from the hospital
saying the death of my father was natural. The administration of the
hospital put a announcement in the newspaper saying they were sorry for
what had happened but denying responsibility. We reported what happened to
the general intelligence service who carried out an investigation in the
hospital especially regarding the gun-fire from the police inside the
hospital ]
[ After the funeral, on Thursday 1.6.00 I
went to see Dr. Elias Arteen who carried out the surgery. He gave me a
written report stating that the surgery was successful and had no negative
results, but the death was caused by removing my father from the intensive
care unit. He said that he would be ready to testify to that before the
court. After that I called Dr. Hafez Abu-Khousa who also confirmed that
the surgery was successful, and added that he demanded more than 15 times
from the doctors to send my father back to the intensive care unit but
they did not listen, and said he would testify for that. We knew that the
administration of Nasser hospital opened an investigation into the
accident on 3.6.00. My brother has asked the Attorney General in Gaza to
open investigation in the case, and we do not know what results would come
out ]
A Medical Report
The patient entered
the hospital on 25.5.00 for surgery in his stomach (obstpyloric) and it
was carried out successfully on 27.5.00. After the surgery it was
advised that he remain in intensive care, but he was removed from there
on 28.5.00 after he improved. But on the same day at 28.5.00 at 6:30
p.m. Dr. Abu-Khousa called me from the hospital and informed me that the
patient was having breathing problems, so I said that he had to go back
immediately to intensive care, but doctors in that unit said the case
was not serious enough to go back to the intensive care unit.
I told Dr.
Abu-Khousa to ask the doctors at the intensive care unit to sign
saying they refused
to do so. At about 9 o’clock that evening Dr. Hafez called me again and
said the patient was on his way to the intensive care unit but in very
serious condition.
This report was
given upon request from the family.
Dr. Elias Arteen
Consultant
Surgeon
Nasser Hospital
b) A woman from Beit Lahia died in al-Shifa
Hospital
The
victim’s husband Basem Abdel-Aziz Abu-Degheim, 32 years, worker in Israel,
has two boys and three girls, told the PHRMG:
On Friday 25.5.00 I took my wife to an
internist after she complained of pains in her abdomen, his name was
Isamil Srour, in his own clinic. He gave her a prescription but she did
not take the medicine. I took her again to the doctor who gave her two
“Raditin” injections to relieve the pain. She did not improve so I took
her again to al-Shifa hospital, that was on 26.5.00, they gave her more
“Raditin”, but the pain increased, they made X-rays and decided she had
gall stones. A doctor called Nahil told me that my wife had a tumefaction
in her abdomen. They decided to operate on her, so they sent me to buy
some emollient suppositories, and after she took them the swelling in her
stomach disappeared. On 4.6.00 they operated on her and discovered that
she had ulcer in the pancreas. Dr. Espeiro al-Tawil who did the surgery
said that it was not a simple operation, it lasted for three hours. After
the surgery she remained for three days in the intensive care unit, then
she improved so they took her back to the internist ward.
Her conditioned improved and she was able to
go to the toilet alone and drink water.
On Friday 16.6.00 I went to visit her at
about 11:30 a.m. and spoke with her and her mother. She felt fine, so I
told her I would go to the prayers and come back. 10 minutes after I left,
her mother came out crying and shouting that the nurse gave her an
injection and my wife died within few seconds.
They said a nurse called Iman Hassouneh gave
my wife a Potassium injection straight into her vein which caused her
death immediately.
Doctors tried to move her into the intensive
care unit , but she had already passed away.
The following day they gave us her body to
bury, and refused to provide any medical report explaining the reason for
her death.
They formed a committee of 5 doctors to
investigate the case, Dr. Mohammed al-Tawil, deputy chairman of al-Shifa
hospital, said in al-Ayam daily newspaper regarding the circumstances of
the death of my wife, that (there could have been a medical error, the
patient could have died as a result of getting a Potassium injection in
one go, instead of having it in a liquid that drops into her blood in a
longer period of time (hours). He said this remains a possibility as one
of the reasons of her death).
Dr. al-Tawil added that the patient
underwent surgery, then remained in the intensve care unit for three days.
After her condition improved she was taken to the surgery ward. There she
received the deadly injection. He said that the medical equipment and
facilities available in the hospital do not allow them to accurately
identify the reason for her death.
He pointed out that the committee to
investigate the issue had not met yet to discuss it because the matter was
not very urgent. The bulletin of the Police Directorate that surgeons from
al-Shifa hospital informed the police operations section that (the patient
Abu-Degheim died as a result of a medical error committed by a doctor and
nurse from the surgery ward, and the body was taken for autopsy).
Call and Appeal
to President Yasser Arafat
Barir Charitable
Society was shocked by the tragic death of a young woman, 25 years and
mother of 5 children of whom the youngest is only 8 months old.
The victim Ghadeer
Jalal Abu-Degheim passed away on Friday 16.6.00 in al-Shifa hospital as
a result of carelessness and irresponsibility, and the neglect of the
morals and principles praised in all religions.
Evidence prove that
she died because she received a potassium injection directly into her
blood, as mentioned in al-Ayam newspaper by Dr. Mohammed al-Tawil,
deputy chairman of al-Shifa hospital.
Barir Society and
Abu-Degheim family call upon President Arafat, the Minister of Justice
and all parties concerned to investigate the circumstances of this
serious crime, and punish those who committed it.
We also call upon
the medical committee formed to investigate the case to do so honestly,
professionally and conscientiously and reveal all the details regarding
this crime, and announce the results to the public.
Barir Charitable
Society
c) Carelessness and
Misidentification lead to the Death of a Citizen from Anza, near Jenin
The
victim:
Hisham Khalil Mohammed Barahmeh, from the village of
Anza near Jenin, born in 1962, single and suffered from a psychological
nerve disease.
His
brother Hashem told the PHRMG:
My
brother Hisham suffered from “schizophrenia”, and he had health problems
in the past. On 9.6.1999 I took him to Jenin government hospital because
he had a pale face, was sweating all the time, and looked exhausted. When
we arrived at the hospital I told the doctors it could be a blood clot,
because he had the same symptoms when he had a clot some time ago, but the
doctors did not listen to me, and carried out the regular checks without
making a heart check up.
On Friday 11.6.99, two days after he entered
the hospital, his condition had not improved, but the doctors said he
could take food and drink. At 11:00 p.m. that night I left my brother for
few minutes, when I came back his room was closed, and someone told me
that my brother had just passed away. If they believed that he had a blood
clot they should not have allowed him to leave his bed, and he would still
be alive.
Finally the doctors at the hospital
confirmed that Hisham died as a result of a clot, therefore I complained
to the police directorate in Jenin. The police officer there did not
cooperate, and had a negative response. The officer (his name was Luay)
told me that the problem was administrative not legal, and had nothing to
do with the police. So I presented a petition to the Governor of Jenin.
The death of my brother because of carelessness and
irresponsibility was not the first case and will not be the last. The
doctors did not listen to me, and did not check any other possibility.
There must be some kind of observation and monitoring of the health
situation in our country. If they had made an electro-cardiogram for my
brother, they could have saved his life.
Notes: a) We refused to allow an autopsy for
religious reasons.
b) At the time when my
brother was in hospital, a newborn child died because of problems
in breathing.
Conclusion:
Palestinian governmental hospital still face
major obstacles in providing the needed medical care for the people. Some
of those problems as we have seen are: the carelessness of medical staff,
the lack of qualified physicians and vital equipment, and the lack of
proper medication in general. The Ministry of Health in the Palestinian
Authority must carefully monitor the work of those hospitals, and work
hard to provide the essential medical equipment.
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