Surgeon Saib Adnan Al-Qadi poses a risk to patient safety after a series of deadly incidents at Sørlandet Hospital in Arendal and will now be restricted in his duties. This was the conclusion of the Norwegian Health Authority after several patients lost their lives, and others suffered extensive injuries.
Information from NRK, cited by Rabulisten, revealed that the surgeon, among other things, connected a woman’s colon to her vagina, so that she later had stool exit through her vagina.
Another patient died after the surgeon operated without having properly read the patient’s medical record beforehand.
Saib Adnan Al-Qadi was reportedly born in Libya and trained in Bulgaria, according to documents from the State Administrator in Agder. This data also revealed that despite not being a specialist in gastrosurgery, Al-Qadi worked as a consultant at the gastrosurgery section at Sørlandet Hospital. He did hold Norwegian authorization as a general surgeon dating back to December 2012.
Profiles for the surgeon on both LinkedIn and Facebook do not appear to have been updated for years, with the LinkedIn profile indicating he was last a general surgeon at a hospital in Denmark, citing exrtensive experience in colon surgery of all things.
The Norwegian Health Inspectorate reviewed a total of seven serious patient cases. Two patients died after stomach operations. Several others had to undergo reoperation at Oslo University Hospital after extensive malpractice.
In one of the most grotesque cases, Al-Qadi operated on a woman who was to have her stoma reversed. Three months later, it was discovered that he had connected her colon to her vagina. The state administrator writes that he chose to operate despite the high risk, and that afterwards he appeared uncaring and tried to blame the patient and relatives.
In another case, he placed the wrong bowel passage during an operation, which led to intestinal torsion and emergency reoperation. The state administrator concluded that he did not listen to colleagues and handled the situation irresponsibly.
The documents also show that the State Administrator had clear issues with Al-Qadi’s attitude and lack of self-criticism, with one assessment stating that he instead directed criticism at the nurses.
The State Administrator cites other cases as well that note a lack of understanding of anatomy, deviant surgical techniques, and a lack of risk assessments. One patient suffered damage to his bile ducts during gallbladder surgery and had to undergo reoperation at Oslo University Hospital. Another died after damage to the small intestine.
Several non-compliance reports were registered against the doctor, both related to patient safety and cooperation with colleagues. An internal assessment simply reports the surgeon to be “uncorrectable” and that his violations constitute “an ongoing risk to patient safety.”
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— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) December 30, 2024The Norwegian Health Authority has therefore decided that Al-Qadi can no longer work as a consultant or have independent responsibility for surgical patients. He may only operate under the close supervision of an approved specialist and must work in a subordinate position if he is to continue as a doctor.
Sørlandet Hospital has previously been involved in several serious scandals surrounding malpractice. In 2022, the hospital was fined 1 million kroner (€93,000) following the so-called “Flekkefjord case”, where a surgeon worked as a consultant in orthopedics for 11 years without being a trained orthopedic surgeon. Several patients were operated on incorrectly, and several died.
CEO Nina Mevold publicly apologized to patients and relatives when the new cases became known. She later resigned after intense pressure from employees and union representatives.
