CAIRO: Minister of Health Hatem El Gabaly ordered the closure of all seven operating rooms at Maadi's Nile Badrawi hospital. He also decreed that no new cases will be admitted in the hospital's intensive care unit as the investigations proceed into the death of two patients at the hospital last Tuesday. Both patients were reportedly given defective oxygen during the surgery, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Health. "Shutting down all seven operating rooms, not allowing any new cases into the intensive care unit and prohibiting any surgeries at Nile Badrawi is a precautionary measure, said Dr Saad El Maghraby, the head of the investigating committee assigned by the ministry and also head of the central administration for non-governmental organizations and licenses. "We are bringing in medical engineering experts from Ain Shams University and other places to examine the operating rooms where the incidents took place, he told Daily News Egypt. The committee also includes Dr. Mahmoud Metny, a surgeon, Dr. Ahmed Abdel Razek, an anesthesiologist, and engineer Ihab Gamal, a consultant in medical engineering. The committee will examine all the tools, medical equipment and anything that was used inside the operating rooms where the victims underwent the surgery. Abdel Rahman Shahin, the health ministry's official spokesperson, said that the committee will report directory to Minister El Gabaly. The two victims, 16-year-old Ali Khalifa and 47-year-old Laila Mokhtar, died Tuesday afternoon after undergoing minor surgery. They both experienced serious complications following the procedure, which included nervous convulsions and the doctors weren't able to save them in time. Khalifa's father, Hassan Khalifa, told Orbit TV's nightly talk show Al-Qahera Al Youm that he blames the hospital for negligence. "This is supposed to be one of the best hospitals and this is what happened. . We are not asking for anything except that this negligence be punished so there wouldn't be more victims, he said. When Hassan Khalifa saw three patients just out of the operating room around the same time suffering the same complications, he became suspicious and reported the incident to Cairo's prosecution office. Authorities immediately launched an investigation and confiscated nearly 35 oxygen tanks from the hospital to test the levels of oxygen and nitrous-oxide in them. The prosecution office is still investigating the incident and interrogating the doctors who operated on the victims. The doctors reportedly said that the surgeries were successful and the victims exhibited these convulsions after they were released from the operating room.
