Garmian health directorate opens investigation after woman dies following injection

KALAR — Garmian’s health directorate said Sunday it has launched legal and administrative procedures following the death of a woman whose family alleges she died after receiving an incorrect injection at a government hospital in Kalar.

The woman’s son, Swar Abdulkarim, told media outlets his mother had a sensitivity condition and was given an injection mixed with water at the hospital, which she was told to take within a specific period. He said this “caused her heart to stop.” She was transferred to a private hospital in Sulaymaniyah, where doctors told the family “the cause of the cardiac arrest was a wrong injection.”

The directorate said the case file will be sent to the Ministry of Health, which will form a specialized investigative committee from outside Garmian governorate to ensure neutrality — in line with ministerial instructions and a request from the public prosecution.

Similar incidents have been reported in the Kurdistan Region. In November 2024, a woman in Erbil’s Shaways neighborhood lost consciousness after receiving an injection at a local clinic. Her brother told 964media she had gone in feeling unwell before collapsing with a severe reaction, with doctors uncertain about the type of injection she had received.