Saudi child paid Dh500,000 damages for Aids infection

A Saudi court ordered a hospital to pay Dh500,000 damages to a little girl who was infected with the deadly Aids disease after she was given contaminated blood by mistake, a newspaper in the Gulf Kingdom reported on Thursday.

A panel of judges in the Southern Jazan province decided on the compensation after several court hearings that began a few months after Riham Al Hikmi fell ill in mid 2013.

“The court closed the case by ordering the hospital to pay SR500,000 (Dh500,000) to the girl…the case has led to the sacking of many doctors and other hospital staff as well as the head of the Jazan health department,” Sabq daily said.

The family of Riham, who was 12 years old when she was infected with Aids, had

demanded SR50 million (Dh50 million) damages for their daughter.

The hospital said a lab technician made a mistake when he transferred blood to the girl from a donor infected with the Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (Aids).

The incident triggered a wave of public protests through social networks and many of them called for immediate action against that hospital.

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