The country’s first liver transplant centre inaugurated by Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani at Sheikh Zayed Hospital last year has proved a mere “eyewash”, as the transplant centre is still not functional owing to a lack of basic requisite structure and equipment, exposing the hospital administration’s sheer neglect.
No operation theatre after a year: According to details, the country’s “so-called” first liver transplant centre does not have an operation theatre, a High Dependency Unit (HDU) and basic equipment required for a transplant despite a lapse of almost a year. Moreover, the administration provided the capacity of only 10 regular beds and 4 HDU beds at the country’s only liver transplant centre and that too without proper equipment and facility. Senior doctors, privy to the development, revealed that nearly half the expensive equipment purchased for the centre is either not required or is substandard. “The expensive heart lung by-pass machine, the liver dialysis machine and a kind of liver cutting machine are not required, while the lidco cardiac output monitors purchased at the cost of Rs 25 million to monitor heart activity during surgery is non-functional so far,” they said alleging that the hospital administration purchased equipment for the entire hospital from funds meant for the liver transplant centre.
Buying for the rest of the hospital: The capsule endoscopy machine at the cost of more than Rs 20 million and intra cranial pressure (ICP) monitoring machine for nearly Rs 10 million have been purchased by the administration. They said that former chairman Professor Anwar sent a team of doctors abroad on training for liver transplant at a cost of millions of rupees, a majority of whom are not serving in the transplant centre now. They alleged that the furniture for the transplant centre purchased at Rs 5 million for the transplant unit was later handed over to the medical college. Doctors alleged that the administration carried out a “hurried” inauguration for “point-scoring” and securing extensions without proper planning and taking the professionals concerned on board.
A dire situation for
patients: The current scenario has also left a number of poor patients with no other option but to go abroad and bear huge costs for a liver transplant. According to estimate, every 12th person in Pakistan has hepatitis, while every fifth liver transplant happening in India alone is on a Pakistani patient, clearly showing a huge loss of foreign exchange. Senior doctors said that the federal government took the step taking account of people’s plight, but despite a lapse of so much time, the transplant centre has not yet started. Staff at the liver transplant centre said that scores of patients, in a critical condition, keep visiting the centre for a transplant but the facility is not available yet.
‘Lack of doners, not
technology:’ Liver Transplant Centre Project Director Dr Tahir Shafi, who is serving in the hospital after retirement, said that it was decided at time of inauguration that the transplant centre will start with existing facilities and will be later shifted to an upper floor after its completion. “But the floor is still under construction and will be completed in a year depending entirely on the release of funds from the federal government,” he said. Shafi said that the transplant facility is available and it is only because donors, either living or dead, are not willing to donate a liver to patients adding, “The entire technological setup is available but transplants are not being carried out because of non-availability of a donor”. When asked how transplants are being done abroad, he said that people took relatives with them. Commenting on the finances, Shafi said that Rs 170 million were allocated for the project while only Rs 156 million have been spent while the rest have been surrendered to the federal government.
He said that all equipment purchased is required and relevant. To a question, he said that a team of senior doctors were sent abroad on training for liver transplant in 2008 as an attempt to train our own doctors because then no surgeon from abroad was willing to come to Pakistan. “The media should play its role in making people aware that organs can be donated,” he said. To a question, Shafi said that our country does not have enough finances to have separate operation theatres and other facilities for liver transplant and the same is the practice across the world.
liver transplant ik achi koshish hai agr ksi ko liver ke zaroort hai to kyea government uss ke madde karen geyen
agar goverment uss ke help karn gee to uss ka porosiger kea hai.kuky meri baji be liver ki bemari mein mubtala hai or uss ke help karny wala koi nahi hai kindly mery Goverment sy request hai ke meri baji ke help kei jayen.
I don’t know when government of Pakistan start this liver transplant project but if someone is serious he should go to India
in India liver transplant cost is 38,00,000 (thirty eight lac) Pakistani rupees and there successful rate is very good
if anybody want further information
contact
[email protected]
+92-3226030505
+92-3224008472
DEATH OF LIVER TRANSPLANT PATIENTS AT SHAIKH ZAYED HOSPITAL, LAHORE – CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE?
04-08-2012
Total 4 living donor liver transplants performed at Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore to-date despite full facilities and support provided by the hospital and the government.
First 2 transplants performed entirely by Indian surgeons flown in especially for this purpose.
Last 2 transplants performed by local shaikh zayed surgeons died immediately post-operatively because of serious surgical complications and mismanagement – media and public kept ignorant deliberately.
Local Transplant Surgeons have no experience in living donor transplantation. These were the first operations they had ever performed!
The condition of one of the donors, a young girl, is also critical as she suffered serious injury to her liver caused by these inexperienced surgeons.
All this information kept a secret from the media and the public.
The media and the government need to investigate the truth and share it with the public.
DEATH OF LIVER TRANSPLANT PATIENTS AT SHAIKH ZAYED HOSPITAL, LAHORE – CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE?
04-08-2012
Total 4 living donor liver transplants performed at Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore to-date despite full facilities and support provided by the hospital and the government.
First 2 transplants performed entirely by Indian surgeons flown in especially for this purpose.
Last 2 transplants performed by local shaikh zayed surgeons died immediately post-operatively because of serious surgical complications and mismanagement – media and public kept ignorant deliberately.
Local Transplant Surgeons have no experience in living donor transplantation. These were the first operations they had ever performed!
The condition of one of the donors, a young girl, is also critical as she suffered serious injury to her liver caused by these inexperienced surgeons.
All this information kept a secret from the media and the public.
The media and the government need to investigate the truth and share it with the public.
I have heard that all liver transplant done by Shekh Zayed Lahore doctors died due to complications after surgery although transplants done by Indian Surgeons in same hospital survived. I hospital authorities need to look into this matter and find out why this happened.
Successful liver transplants are being done on regular basis at Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad and at much lower cost than India.
Shiekh Zayed Lahore transplant patients died due to untrained anaesthesia doctors and weak ICU management. Hospital should make sure that they have trained anaesthetists and good ICU before attempting liver transplant. Otherwise all patients will die. It is better to go to India where doctors are experts in liver transplantation and it is also cheaper.
Government and media should investigate true state of affairs at shaikh zaed hospital lahore before more people die.
Dear Sirs,
I am a patient of Hepatitis C Chronic Liver Disease waiting for a Living Donor Liver Transplant operation for the last 21 months at Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore along with another 200 similar patients who have been “listed” for the same operation for variable periods of time.
In spite of the government having spent millions of rupees in terms of expensive machinery, infrastructure and hiring two highly paid foreign “trained” Liver Transplant Surgeons to provide this essential service to the people of Pakistan, Liver Transplantation in Shaikh Zayed Hospital still seems to be a far fetched dream for most of us waiting desperately for this life saving operation.
As I am a regular visitor to the Liver Transplant OPD of this hospital, I have been able to gather some alarming facts regarding the safety of Liver Transplantation at this hospital from junior doctors and paramedical staff. The following needs your urgent attention and investigation.
To-date only 4 Living Donor Liver Transplant Surgeries have been performed at Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore.
The first two Living Donor Liver Transplants were entirely performed and managed by Dr. Subhash Gupta and his team of surgeons, anesthetists and nurses who were specially brought in for this purpose from India.
It was a matter of great concern and a shock to me when I learned that the third patient (50 year old Mr. Muhammad Anwar of Sialkot ) who was unfortunate enough to be operated independently by the two local surgeons (operation carried out on 24th February 2012 and trumpeted in the press on 25th February 2012) soon after the Indian team had left , died of surgical complications only a few days after his Liver Transplant operation while he was still in the hospital. The hospital administration “ensured” a media black-out so that the news of the death of this unfortunate patient would not reach the media and the press. Junior doctors and paramedics were threatened of dire consequences for fear of this news leaking out.
I was told by a junior doctor that before the Indian surgeons left, they had clearly informed the administration of the hospital that as per their assessment the two local surgeons were not capable enough to do Living Donor Liver Transplantation and should not perform any such surgeries on their own.
I have come to know from reliable sources in the hospital that the two local liver transplant surgeons are not trained to do Living Donor Liver Transplantation. In fact, the operation they performed on this unfortunate patient was the first Living Donor Liver Transplant operation that either of the two had ever performed!
Living Donor Liver Transplants are much bigger, complex and technically demanding operations as compared to Cadaveric Liver Transplantation which is done in Ireland and England where these two surgeons claim to have received their training. Had Mr. Anwar been operated by surgeons with experience in Living Donor Liver Transplantation, he would still be alive and the approximately 5 million rupees spent on this single operation would have been worth it. The whereabouts and present state of health of liver donor, Kamrin, the 19 year old neice of Mr. Muhammad Anwar who underwent a major operation at the risk of her own life to donate half her liver for her uncle, are also unknown.
Despite this, the same team of surgeons carried out another Living Donor Liver Transplant operation on Mr.Abdul Rasheed of Samanabad, Lahore on June 20, 2012 (again trumpeted in the press as a successful transplant). What was not reported in the press was that this operation also failed badly. Mr. Abdul Rasheed had to be re-operated the very next day, kept alive in a critical condition on a ventilator in the ICU and died of serious surgical complications only a few days later. Mr. Rasheed’s young niece, who had donated half her liver in this case suffered serious injury to her liver during this operation; her whereabouts to this day are unknown. In this second case also, a complete media blackout was carried out by the hospital administration and this successive mortality was never reported in the press. Approximate cost of this failed operation was again assessed to be close to 5 million.
The patients who died and their relatives would never have given consent for this operation had they been made aware of the above facts before the operation. If these facts were now made available to the relatives of the deceased patients it would be a matter for severe civil liabilities and recommendation of criminal negligence by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council and the Punjab Health Commission.
My request is that the credentials of these surgeons be examined, certificates of training from their trainers in the UK or elsewhere be obtained which should state categorically that these two surgeons are competent and have been trained to perform Living Donor Liver Transplantation independently before they are allowed to operate any further. If they are allowed to carry out any more “experimental” operations on the Pakistani public now, further deaths will be the responsibility of the hospital administration, the Punjab Government and also the press. Any further deaths at the hands of these two surgeons will leave the hospital administration open to prosecution and civil liabilities.
In spite of the government having spent millions of rupees in terms of expensive machinery, infrastructure and hiring two highly paid foreign “trained” Liver Transplant Surgeons to provide this essential service to the people of Pakistan, Liver Transplantation in Shaikh Zayed Hospital still seems to be a far fetched dream for most of us waiting desperately for this life saving operation.
As I am a regular visitor to the Liver Transplant OPD of this hospital, I have been able to gather some alarming facts regarding the safety of Liver Transplantation at this hospital from junior doctors and paramedical staff. The following needs your urgent attention and investigation.
To-date only 4 Living Donor Liver Transplant Surgeries have been performed at Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore.
The first two Living Donor Liver Transplants were entirely performed and managed by Dr. Subhash Gupta and his team of surgeons, anesthetists and nurses who were specially brought in for this purpose from India.
It was a matter of great concern and a shock to me when I learned that the third patient (50 year old Mr. Muhammad Anwar of Sialkot ) who was unfortunate enough to be operated independently by the two local surgeons (operation carried out on 24th February 2012 and trumpeted in the press on 25th February 2012) soon after the Indian team had left , died of surgical complications only a few days after his Liver Transplant operation while he was still in the hospital. The hospital administration “ensured” a media black-out so that the news of the death of this unfortunate patient would not reach the media and the press. Junior doctors and paramedics were threatened of dire consequences for fear of this news leaking out.
I was told by a junior doctor that before the Indian surgeons left, they had clearly informed the administration of the hospital that as per their assessment the two local surgeons were not capable enough to do Living Donor Liver Transplantation and should not perform any such surgeries on their own.
I have come to know from reliable sources in the hospital that the two local liver transplant surgeons are not trained to do Living Donor Liver Transplantation. In fact, the operation they performed on this unfortunate patient was the first Living Donor Liver Transplant operation that either of the two had ever performed!
Living Donor Liver Transplants are much bigger, complex and technically demanding operations as compared to Cadaveric Liver Transplantation which is done in Ireland and England where these two surgeons claim to have received their training. Had Mr. Anwar been operated by surgeons with experience in Living Donor Liver Transplantation, he would still be alive and the approximately 5 million rupees spent on this single operation would have been worth it. The whereabouts and present state of health of liver donor, Kamrin, the 19 year old neice of Mr. Muhammad Anwar who underwent a major operation at the risk of her own life to donate half her liver for her uncle, are also unknown.
Despite this, the same team of surgeons carried out another Living Donor Liver Transplant operation on Mr.Abdul Rasheed of Samanabad, Lahore on June 20, 2012 (again trumpeted in the press as a successful transplant). What was not reported in the press was that this operation also failed badly. Mr. Abdul Rasheed had to be re-operated the very next day, kept alive in a critical condition on a ventilator in the ICU and died of serious surgical complications only a few days later. Mr. Rasheed’s young niece, who had donated half her liver in this case suffered serious injury to her liver during this operation; her whereabouts to this day are unknown. In this second case also, a complete media blackout was carried out by the hospital administration and this successive mortality was never reported in the press. Approximate cost of this failed operation was again assessed to be close to 5 million.
The patients who died and their relatives would never have given consent for this operation had they been made aware of the above facts before the operation. If these facts were now made available to the relatives of the deceased patients it would be a matter for severe civil liabilities and recommendation of criminal negligence by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council and the Punjab Health Commission.
My request is that the credentials of these surgeons be examined, certificates of training from their trainers in the UK or elsewhere be obtained which should state categorically that these two surgeons are competent and have been trained to perform Living Donor Liver Transplantation independently before they are allowed to operate any further. If they are allowed to carry out any more “experimental” operations on the Pakistani public now, further deaths will be the responsibility of the hospital administration, the Punjab Government and also the press. Any further deaths at the hands of these two surgeons will leave the hospital administration open to prosecution and civil liabilities.
Successive deaths of these two liver transplant patients at Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore need to be carefully investigated. Was it a technical failure and surgical incompetence, poor anaesthesia or was it mismanagement in the ICU post-operatively. A lot of questions need to be answered.
100% mortality of shaikh zayed hospital liver transplant patients is difficult to understand when they have such well trained liver transplant surgeons. I have heard that anaesthesia team is very incompetent there. Anaesthesia people gave very poor anaesthesia and then neglected the patients in ICU, leading to death of both patients. Record of training, experience and credentials of anaesthesia team at shaikh zayed hospital need to be checked rather than blaming the surgeons for all the deaths.
lever transplant ka package kitna h shikh zayahid h s p ka
ma na apnay father ka transplant krwan shikh zahid sa karwaoo ya Alshifa h s p islmabad sa kraooo cl me back
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