Monday, 16 June 2014

Abu Faour punishes hospital over denial of care


BEIRUT: Health Minister Wael Abu Faour Monday froze his ministry’s contract with Tripoli’s Albert Haykal Hospital after it allegedly denied emergency care to a bleeding pregnant woman.


Abu Faour called on the Syndicate of Doctors to interrogate H. Daher, the doctor who was responsible of the hostpital’s emergency department when the incident occurred. Daher was also banned from treating patients at the expense of the Health Ministry.


According to the National News Agency, a Rima Mohammad Khaled was four months pregnant and bleeding when she arrived at the Albert Haykal Hospital in the northern city late Saturday night. Staff there reportedly refused to admit her


Dr. A. Hablas, and G. Shaheen, a midwife, were called for interrogation over the case.


A hospital employee had told The Daily Star that the woman was not admitted initially because “there was nothing wrong with her,” because it was a "simple case of external bleeding."


However, the Ministry’s investigations and the hospital said that Khaled’s physical situation was “critical.”


Abu Faour referred the case to the State Prosecutor’s office, and warned against similar actions by any hospital, saying that they would lead to “legal action" and the cancellation of the Ministry's contract with the institution.



Kataeb calls for immediate presidential election


BEIRUT: The Kataeb Party Monday called for the immediate election of a president and urged teachers to start grading official exams, following a union announcement that they would boycott grading until the new salary scale is passed.


In a statement after the weekly meeting of its political bureau, the party said that "in light of the dangerous events in Iraq, and the spread of fundamentalist movements in the Arab world," electing a president was necessary so that Lebanon's democratic political institutions would function normally.


The group also pressed teachers to drop their threat to boycott the marking of official exams in case Parliament did not pass a new salary scale this week.


“We call on... the teachers to immediately grade the exams and publish their results, to show mercy to students and allow them to enroll in university,” the party said in a statement.


The party said it supportd a new salary scale that does not harm the economy or affect the Lebanese currency, calling for cooperation among the Cabinet, Parliament, and unions.