–PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal says ex-PM to recover within two days after platelet transfusion
–Hussain Nawaz claims NAB took moved incarcerated PM to Pindi to ‘break him ahead of protests’
LAHORE: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif underwent a platelet transfusion on Tuesday, as the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) claimed the former premier’s condition was “stable” and that dengue test results were negative.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader was rushed to a hospital late on Monday night after his condition significantly deteriorated.
A medical board was formed to examine Nawaz’s health that included senior physicians, gastroenterologists, anesthetists. The board is headed by Prof Dr Mahmood Ayaz – the principal of the Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS).
Dr Ayaz said some blood test results of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif were not satisfactory and the team would run tests again to ascertain the facts.
According to Professor Ayaz, the number of platelets in the former prime minister’s body are 10,000. Hospital sources claimed that Nawaz Sharif’s blood tests are being taken to supply him with platelets.
Meanwhile, in a press release issued by NAB’s Lahore office, the accountability watchdog said that Nawaz’s platelets had decreased “allegedly due to provision of medicine which makes blood thin that was suggested by Dr Adnan Khan, who is his personal physician”.
According to the statement, the PML-N supremo was shifted to the hospital “for a complete medical check and in order to increase his platelet levels”.
“A team of doctors has been deputed to provide him round the clock medical facilities without fail and, in addition, his personal physician [Dr. Khan] had spent three hours with Nawaz on Monday.”
“Therefore, the impression being given in media that NAB has not given him permission to see Nawaz Sharif is not correct and totally baseless. Media is requested to kindly avoid spreading speculations without consulting [NAB’s] spokesman,” the bureau clarified.
The claim that Nawaz Sharif was ‘stable’ and likely to ‘recover’ in the next 24 to 48 hours after a blood transfusion was corroborated by PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal in a press conference.
“The government is deliberately denying him medical care and trying to harm his health,” Iqbal said while addressing reporters. Iqbal, however, said that his party would hold Prime Minister Imran Khan responsible if any harm comes to Nawaz.
PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif also visited his elder brother at the hospital. He told reporters that Nawaz’s platelet count fell quickly in NAB’s custody and it worried him. He said that NAB showed “gross negligence”.
On the other hand, Nawaz’s son, Hussain, claimed on Twitter that the reason for his father’s deteriorating health could be “poison” too as it is known to reduce platelet count.
Hussain claimed that the premier was moved to NAB Headquarters in Rawalpindi to “break him ahead of the protests”.
“To make things worse, above solitary confinement, he is even denied newspapers. Although insufficient given his ailments, the medical cover provided at the Central Jail was also withdrawn,” he added.
Hussain further claimed that Nawaz’s personal physician was denied permission to examine the incarcerated former prime minister for a week.
“It was only after we took to Twitter and the resultant protest outside NAB Headquarters that a team of doctors was called who confirmed Dr Adnan’s findings and hence Nawaz Sharif was hurriedly shifted to the hospital.”
He questioned why the accountability watchdog and the government failed to hospitalise Nawaz despite a substantially reduced platelet count.
