The Minister of Public Health Dr. Hamad Hasan referred to the Public Prosecutor the case of the deceased Syrian patient Magida Zoueir. The forty-year-old patient was suffering serious illness and had presented on March 17 to many hospitals in North-Lebanon, including Al-Mazloum and Khair Hospitals. However, all the hospitals refused to admit her.

Minister Hasan noted that refraining from providing a patient in critical condition with the necessary first aid treatment is considered as a criminal act as stipulated by the Criminal Code and the law on the professional practice of medicine. He called for an investigation into her case and requests to impose the severest penalties on anyone who neglected her, leading to her death. The Emergency units of these hospitals should have examined the patient and provide her with the necessary health services, whatever was the diagnosis, and refer her to another hospital if needed.