Circumstances of Omani patient’s death in hospital under probe

Muscat: The family of a woman who died because of the alleged mistakes reportedly made during a routine procedure at a hospital in the country has called for more to be done to hold doctors accountable for such errors.

Munira Said Khalfan Al Maqbali, an Omani national from Sohar in North Al Batinah, died on Saturday after a liposuction session supposedly went wrong. The doctor performing the liposuction apparently perforated her liver several times during the procedure. The doctor has since been suspended by the Ministry of Health.

She leaves behind two children, a seven-year-old and a four-year-old, who are currently in the care of her husband, Ghaith Al Shibli.

“On Saturday, Munira decided to go to a private hospital for a liposuction procedure,” said Al Shibli.

"Later that evening, I received a call from her sister, saying she was bleeding internally, and that I needed to go to the hospital at the earliest.”  15 minutes later, Ghaith was at the hospital, but his wife had already passed away. He points to the evidence shown in the autopsy as proof of medical malpractice.

“I do not know whether the doctor who performed the procedure for Munira is a specialist, because the autopsy showed that her liver had been penetrated several times,” he said.

“But the liver is far from the area in which the liposuction was to take place. This is evidence that the doctor does not know what they are doing. “We must stop such medical errors from occurring, and I ask for action to be taken in this regard,” added Al Shibli.

On the doctor’s suspension, a Ministry of Health statement said it was “following with great interest the cases of the deceased, Munira Al Maqbali, and the ministry continues to undertake the necessary investigations to identify her circumstances.

“As a precaution, the doctor has been suspended from practicing any medical duties until the investigation by the concerned authorities has been completed.”

The doctor in question had rented the operation theatre and in-patient services of the clinic, a common practice in the country.