CAIRO: Another patient fell victim to what are suspected to be more defective oxygen cylinders while in surgery at Ain Shams Specialized hospital, only one week after two patients died allegedly due to the same cause in Maadi's Nile Badrawi Hospital. The latest victim of defective oxygen cylinders was initially admitted to the hospital to have her gallbladder removed, but died of circulatory malfunction two days after the surgery. Consequently, Minister of Health Hatem Al-Gabaly prohibited the use of the anesthetic nitrous-oxide in all hospitals as "a temporary procedure, following an investigation by a health ministry delegation. The deaths of the two patients in Maadi, had led Al-Gabaly to decree the closure of all operating rooms in Nile Badrawi Hospital as well as the intensive care units at Misr International Hospital in Dokki. Ain Shams Specialized hospital closed down all its operating rooms and stopped all surgeries requiring general anesthesia, indicating that the hospital will operate on patients in critical condition, with local anesthesia. Earlier this week, 16-year-old Ali Khalifa and 47-year-old Laila Mokhtar, died after undergoing minor surgery in Nile Badrawi Hospital. Authorities launched an investigation and confiscated nearly 35 oxygen cylinders 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 convulsions after they were released from the operating room.
