Twins’ death, Bahrain doctor gets his jail term reduced on appeal

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A doctor, who received three years in jail on manslaughter charges for causing medical errors and leading to the deaths of a twin, has had his jail terms reduced to a year on appeal.

The Lower Criminal Court has sentenced the doctor to three years in prison and two lady doctors to one year in jail for finding them guilty of the deaths of twin babies. The court had acquitted a nurse in the same case.

The defendants, court files say, declared the twin babies dead and handed them over to their father, only to find them alive during a burial ceremony. Footages circulated at that time claimed that the prematurely born twin baby girls were proclaimed dead and handed to their father in “bags”.

The twin’s father also shared online a document from Salmaniya Medical Complex showing that the incident happened on 16 October 2020, a day after the birth of the twins. One of the babies died well before the father reached the hospital learning about their birth, while the other died at the neonatal intensive care unit a few hours later.

A report by the SMC Chief of Medical Staff revealed that the twin’s mother was admitted to the hospital on 15 October 2020, at 8 pm.

The mother was heavily pregnant in her 22nd week and was critically ill on arrival, the report said. SMC report said that one baby was declared dead following delivery. The other baby, who showed some signs of life, was moved to a neonatal intensive care unit for premature infants.

However, later at 9.30 pm, she also failed to survive. The Public Prosecution opened an investigation as soon as the father complained against the doctors. A forensic report concluded later that the doctors could have saved the twins’ life, had they transferred the twins to the intensive care unit immediately.

The report concluded that the medical staff who dealt with the twins were responsible for their death. The Public Prosecution levelled the charges against the suspects based on the reports of an NHRA committee and the forensic expert.

In yesterday’s verdict, the High Court of Appeal rejected the challenges made against the original judgement by the two others. They will now have spent a year in jail for the crime. The Chief Prosecutor for Ministries and Public Entities said the High Court of Appeal is amending the jail terms awarded to one of the suspects.