Ref: 10/2014
Date: 09 February 2014
Time: 15:00 GMT

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) calls for investigating the death of Shams Ghassan Ahmed Abu Deba’ (14), from al-Shabourah refugee camp in Rafah, after she underwent an adenoid removal surgery at Abu Yusef al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah. PCHR also demands publishing the investigation’s results in public and taking the necessary legal measures. Abu Deba’ passed away on Thursday evening, 06 February 2014, after 9 days of full coma that she felt into when undergoing surgery on 29 January 2014.

According to the statement of the child’s father, Shams (14) underwent a surgery on Wednesday, 29 January 2014, for removal of the adenoid at Abu Yusef al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah. The surgery took about an hour and a half after which the child was admitted to the Women’s Surgery section. A nurse noticed the child had had nasal bleeding, upon which she notified the doctors who decided to take her back to the operations’ room. The girl left the room after 2 hours and then she fell into coma.

The father stated that his wife (the girl’s mother) who accompanied her daughter at Abu Yusef al-Najjar hospital demanded transferring her daughter to another hospital. The doctors agreed and transferred her to the European Hospital in Khan Yunis in an unequipped ambulance. Once she arrived at the hospital, the doctors examined her and stopped the nasal bleeding. They told her father that the reason of bleeding was the big cotton padding that was wrongly inserted in the patient’s nose, and which caused a breathing problem. Because of the seriousness of her condition, the doctors decided to refer her to an Israeli hospital for medical treatment. However three Israeli hospitals refused her because of the seriousness of her condition.

Her condition was diagnosed in application form no. 1 as follows: the patient’s heart had stopped and she fell into coma. Due to lack of oxygen in the brain she suffered iris expansion. The patient remained in European Hospital until she passed away on Thursday, 06 February 2014.

In view of the above, PCHR demands:

• The Ministry of Health and Attorney General in Gaza to initiate an immediate investigation in the death of the girl and publish its results in public;

• The Attorney General and Ministry of Health to take the necessary legal measures against all parties that are proven to have failed in or neglected the treatment of the child;
• The Government in Gaza to reimburse the child’s family; and
• The Ministry of Health in Gaza to hold its responsibilities according to the Public Health Law no. 20/2004 and the international standards of the right to health, and take all legal measures to protect each person’s right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.