AIDS patient sues Qunfuda hospital

The Court of Grievances in Makkah is currently examining a lawsuit against a government hospital in Qunfuda accused of causing a young woman to contract AIDS. The patient’s lawyer Sultan Al-Harithy told Arab News his client married a man with the disease after being told the man was perfectly healthy. Saudi Arabian marriage law stipulates both the man and woman planning to marry should undergo medical tests to guarantee they are medically fit for marriage and free from contagious diseases. Before the marriage, the mandatory medical checkup was conducted at the Qunfuda hospital three years ago, when the young woman was 17. The hospital certified that the bridegroom did not suffer from any contagious diseases. However, later the young woman was shocked to learn that her husband had AIDS. Her worried mother instantly took the daughter to the government hospital where she tested HIV positive. The mother wanted the doctors responsible to be punished. So she first complained to the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR). When the NSHR demanded an explanation, the hospital said at the time of the checkup it was not equipped to conduct AIDS tests. The hospital also argued that when it later learned the man had AIDS, it summoned his wife and informed her. The hospital authorities also told the NSHR that it obtained a declaration from the woman that she was aware of her husband’s disease. The woman claims the hospital lied to the NSHR and filed a lawsuit at the Court of Grievances, the lawyer said. She has demanded damages for physical and mental distress, he added. In a statement submitted to the court, an official of the health department in Qunfuda repeated the hospital’s stance that the woman was aware of the man’s condition.