CAIRO: Minister of Health Hatem El-Gabaly formed a special committee to investigate the recent death of a 14-year-old Egyptian girl after undergoing plastic surgery in Al-Demerdash general hospital. According to the ministry's spokesperson Abdel Rahman Shahin, the committee includes Dr Magda Rasmy, professor of anesthesiology at the faculty of medicine at Cairo University, and Dr Samia Al-Nahas, an official at the ministry's quality control department. The investigations began Sunday and are expected to last three days, according to Shahin. The Ministry of Health is still investigating an infant's death in a private hospital in Gharbeya last week. Sherif Hammouda, deputy minister of health in the governorate, said that ministry officials are currently conducting an autopsy on the week-old boy to determine the cause of death. "If it was proven that the death was a result of negligence, we [Ministry of Health officials] will take legal action against the hospital and shut it down, Hammouda said. According to state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram, the baby died after the hospital removed his ventilator because his father failed to pay LE 2,000. According to the newspaper, the father, a 30-year-old farmer, admitted his newborn to the hospital when the infant had trouble breathing. The father had made a LE 2,400 down payment, but was asked for an extra LE 2,000 five days later, which he could not afford. While looking for an affordable hospital, he received news of his son's death. According to Al-Ahram, the father accused the hospital of removing his baby's ventilator which led to his death. The father added that the hospital refused to give him his son's body until he paid the remaining LE 2,000, according to Al-Ahram's report.
