KUWAIT: Health Minister Sheikh Dr Basel Al-Sabah issued a ministerial decree to form a technical committee to review and upgrade patient safety procedures when using anesthetics during surgeries and dental work. This comes in the aftermath of a child's death at a dental clinic in Fahaheel medical center recently, which initial reports indicate had happened after he was given local anesthetic during treatment.

The committee
will be headed by the ministry's undersecretary for technical affairs, along
with the chairman of the anesthesia departments' council, head of the
anesthesia college at Kuwait Institute for Medical Specialties, director of
quality and approval, director of drugs registration and supervision, director
of dental medicine department and a senior legal specialist.

The committee
will review procedures and local and general anesthetic policies in hospitals,
specialized centers and clinics, follow new international upgrades in the field
of anesthesia and related medicines, interactions and resulting effects, and
uses and cautions related to their use. It proposes upgraded work policy for
anesthetic care before making the intervention in various specialties, making a
mechanism for medical auditing using scientific indicators to follow the
implementation of related policies within healthy environment protocols.

It will also
contact specialized international centers and organizations to benefit from
their reports in this regard. The committee's work will be for one month from
the date of its first meeting, and the chairman will submit a report including
results and recommendations to be approved by the minister.

By Meshaal
Al-Enezi