LAHORE: Doctors treating former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday refused to discharge the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo citing a serious health risk.
Nawaz, who was admitted to Services Hospital almost a week ago and is being treated under the supervision of the facility’s special medical board, had experienced once more a dip in his platelet count a day prior, with the number going down from 45,000 to 25,000.
The platelet count, according to the special medical board, had decreased due to the medicines he was being administered for his cardiac disease following a minor heart attack earlier. However, doctors stopped giving him that medicine, following which his platelet count rose back up.
Doctors further advised keeping the PML-N leader in the hospital till platelet count is normal. He faces a serious health concern, they added, which is they maintained that they could not risk shifting or discharging him.
Nawaz in his current condition cannot be moved from the hospital, the doctors said.
Separately, sources explained that treating the PML-N supremo had become a major challenge for the medical board as the steroids he was being administered to bump up his platelet count worsened his condition in terms of blood pressure and diabetes.
Doctors noted that if they focused on heart and kidneys, Nawaz’s platelet count fell but if the attention was instead shifted to his platelet count, his heart and kidneys problems increased. The results of his kidney tests were not satisfactory, which is why the heart medication he was being given was stopped.
Doctors could not give him the medication for his heart condition at a time when his platelet count was 25,000, they said, adding that they were quite concerned because of both his heart and platelet count.
According to sources, the doctors have also decided to carry out a full body scan, which they hope would reveal all the body parts that have been affected.