No 'do not resuscitate' order issued, nurse testifies

She says two doctors accused in patient's death did not tell anyone to remove life support;.

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DUBAI // An ICU nurse testified today that her former intensive care unit chief, accused along with another doctor of the mercy killing of a quadriplegic patient, did not issue a do not resuscitate order.

EA, 50, Austrian, is charged with the premeditated murder of Ghulam Mohammed in February 2009. He and the Indian doctor MA, 49, allegedly left him to die after shutting down his life-support system and refusing to revive him when he suffered a heart attack. They also instructed other medical staff not to do so either, prosecutors say.

They have denied the charges.

The female witness, identified as D, told the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance today that she had worked with EA in the ICU and often helped resuscitate Mr Mohammed.

"The patient's heart used to stop every time he was flipped from one side to the other on his bed," D said.

She added that there was no direct order regarding lifting life support, but there was a discussion among several doctors on the subject.

MA was the ICU attending physician on the day Mr Mohammed died. EA denied giving him or anyone a do not resuscitate order, contradicting the testimony of Rashid Hospital's ICU consultant, Ashraf Mahmood Al Houthy, an Egyptian.

The next hearing will be next month, when the court will listen to two more defence witnesses.

salamir@thenational.ae