Federal Investigation Agency arrested the medical superintendent of Punjab Institute of Cardiology on Sunday in the PIC ‘mystery’ drug debacle. Chief Minister Shahaz Sharif also ordered immediate suspension of the Health Director General Dr Aslam Chaudhary and Chief Drug Inspector Muazzam Ali.
MS PIC Dr Saleem Jafar was suspended on Saturday along with Director Drug Testing Laboratory Abdus Salam Mufti, DMS (Store) Dr Ali Hassan, pharmacist Muhammad Yousaf and store keeper Zulfiqar. FIA team held the suspended MS on Sunday while he was present in PIC. Sources said Dr Saleem Jafar was arrested as he was chairman of purchase committee of PIC and was accused of negligence in the CMIT probe. In near future, more arrests of important functionaries of PIC were expected to widen the net of investigation, sources further revealed.
Dr Saleem Jafar would be produced before duty magistrate on Monday (today) for taking his remand. The teams of FIA have also started raiding the medical stores and pharmacies of the hospitals for drug-checking and special teams have been constituted in different cities for this purpose. The team for Lahore which also arrested Dr Saleem Jafar included Assistant Director Jameel Ahmad Khan and three inspectors Anwar, Ghulam Mustafa and Altaf Gohar.
Meanwhile three more were reported dead due to reaction of spurious drugs obtained from PIC after which death toll has climbed up to 112 while the Health Department reports confirmed only 89 deaths. Per details, three patients succumbed to the reaction of drugs in Services Hospital on Sunday. The deceased were identified as 80-years-old Muhammad Sharif and two women Saleema Bibi and Farhat Kausar.
Furthermore, a spokesman of Health Department claimed that 22 patients affected by reaction of PIC medicines had recovered and were discharged from various hospitals during the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, per official statistics, 368 patients were still admitted in various hospitals including 62 in Jinnah Hospital, 23 in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, 171 in Services Hospital, 16 in Lahore General Hospital and 84 in Mayo Hospital. Moreover, three patients are under treatment in Allied Hospital Faisalabad and four in Shaikh Zayed Hospital Lahore.
According to the report two patients each are under treatment in WAPDA Hospital Lahore and Nishtar Hospital Multan whereas one patient in Doctor’s Hospital Lahore.
YDA ANNOUNCES STRIKE: The Young Doctors Association Punjab has given a call for a strike in all public hospitals in the metropolitan today (Monday) over the government’s decision of terminating senior doctors at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC).
The YDA decided to put its weight against the government’s decision in a meeting on Sunday. Per details, all doctors in Lahore will observe strike and the strike would be spread to the other hospitals of the province if the government does not take its decision back. Even on Sunday, the outpatient department at the PIC remained shut after the young doctors announced the strike after a meeting at the same hospital. Talking to Pakistan Today Punjab YDA President Dr Hamid Butt said the doctors had no role in the PIC drug debacle and the government had punished them ‘unjustly’, adding that other doctors’ organisations have vowed to support YDA.
Pakistan YDA General Secretary Dr Salman Kazmi said they support the strike call and strike would be observed in the rest of the province also if the decision is not taken back.
Even the Medical Teachers association has supported the decision. Professor Javaid Akram, ‘condemning’ the government’s decision, said both the provincial and federal government should work in collaboration. He said the government had ‘disgraced’ senior doctors who worked with diligence and honesty to serve humanity. He said the action had been taken against doctors and medical professionals because the government wanted to distract the attention from the ‘real’ culprits. To a question he said the provincial body of the MTA would meet today (Monday). He however said “being senior teachers we will never abandon the ailing patients who are already in a critical condition”. The Punjab YDA had observed a long and successful strike last year to get a special salary package from Punjab government. The YDA decision also came at a time when the number of affected heart patients in different hospitals has increased.
PMA CONDENMNS ARRESTS: Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has strongly condemned the suspension and arrests of senior doctors of Punjab Institute of Cardiology and demanded their immediate release as the detailed enquiry to fix the responsibility of the matter was yet to be completed. The association said the purchase of the medicines was done by the technical committee the Health Department and the administration of the PIC had to follow the directions of the Health Department in this regard .The office bearers of PMA Dr M Tanveer Anwar, Prof Dr Ashraf Nizami, Dr Shahid Malik, Dr Izhar Ahmed Ch, Dr Ihsan ur Rehman, Dr Yasmin Ihsan, Dr Kamran Saeed, Dr Sabahat Habib Khan, Dr Salman Kazmi have further demanded immediate release of innocent doctors and withdrawal of the suspensions. An executive committee meeting has been called to finalise the line of action on Tuesday 31.1.2012 at PMA House Lahore.
WHO DENIES SUPPLYING MEDICINE: The World Health Organisation (WHO) did not supply medicines to hospitals, including the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), it only facilitated through the provincial government, a WHO spokesperson said on Sunday. In a statement, the spokesperson said that the WHO provides support to the government of Pakistan Health Ministry and Health departments. The statement said further that the Punjab government has direct agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with the International Health Partners (IHP) for donation of medicines form Europe and North America.
