What penalty might be expected for a clinical waste error?
In Saudi Arabia, they don’t do things by half, though the circumstances of the case might explain why:
Baby, mistaken for medical waste, thrown in garbage bin
There, three hospital staff have been sentenced to three months in jail and 70 lashes for gross negligence.
A baby was thrown in a garbage bin at a private hospital in Al Khobar, in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, after cleaners mistook the newborn’s dead body for medical waste.
Saudi media reported that three workers — two cleaners and a nurse — were sentenced to three months in jail and 70 lashes after a court found them guilty of gross negligence.
The report stated that the trio admitted that the mistake occurred as the nurse put the body in a waste bag instead of a body bag.
The incident occurred when the hospital had called the father to inform him that his newborn child had tragically died shortly after birth.
But when the father turned up to claim the body, the hospital said it was “lost”.
Police in Eastern Province were informed and a complaint was filed with the Health Affairs Department.
Health authorities conducted a probe, following which prosecutors filed a complaint in court. A travel ban was given on the suspects until the probe had been completed.