When the rich wage war, it’s the poor who die

The Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), its doctors and the poor patients will suffer the most in the spurious drug reaction case despite the facts that all findings have absolved them and have placed the responsibility on a Karachi-based pharmaceutical company, Pakistan Today has learnt. Alarms were raised when patients coming with strange symptoms including bleeding started passing away one after another with doctors having no clue of the actual cause of the disease and the consequent death. Hype was created in all concerned circles after the media highlighted the issue, causing none other than the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to take up the matter personally after the deaths started multiplying. Since no one, not even senior physicians and specialists, had any clue about the actual cause of deaths, it resulted in a lot of panic among patients, especially those with heart ailments, who started taking even normal pill like Ponston with a pinch of salt.
Moreover, since PIC was the central major centre for distribution of the “killer” drugs, the general perception around the hospital was built with the same tinge of danger, with even senior doctors calling it “the PIC drug syndrome”. In the same light, the Punjab government suspended an entire hierarchy of PIC officials including MS Dr Salim Jaffar and senior Cardiac surgeon and CEO Professor Dr Azhar. The government also sent the suspected drugs and bone marrow samples abroad for tests which revealed that Isotab-20, manufactured by Efroze Pharmaceuticals in Karachi, was the drug that was responsible for the havoc.
All legal action has been initiated against the said pharmaceutical company, however, the damage done to the reputation of the premier heart facility and its doctors is having its repercussions now.
Per details, the number of patients visiting the hospital has decreased and many are turning to private hospitals and spending thousands of rupees on healthcare that was being provided free at PIC.
HOW MONEY IS GENERATED FOR POOR PATIENTS: The PIC attracts patients with heart ailments from across the province and from all the strata of society. It has a unique system of allowing doctors to practice privately at the hospital, while an amount from that revenue goes to the government exchequer and is spent on the poor patients. Currently, around Rs 200 million is generated every year by providing treatment to the “paying” category patients and the same amount is then spent on free medicines and treatment of the poor. A decreasing number of “paying” category patients will translate into lesser money available for the treatment of the poor. Nearly all the doctors at the hospital have their own private practices so this would not affect them as much as it would make the poor suffer.
A senior surgeon at PIC on the condition of anonymity further said the government’s decision of initiating action against pharmaceutical companies and doctors before the laboratory report findings was in response to the “public pressure”, however, after the lab reports had absolved the doctors of any responsibility, the government should have had the “guts” to restore the reputation of a premier heart facility in the province. He said the doctors would continue to earn but the poor would suffer.
“The drug is the responsibility of the pharma company which manufactured it and no obligation can be placed on any doctor in this case, which has now been proven scientifically also,” he said.
PIC NOT ‘WORTH THE TROUBLE’? “Such a big incident has happened at the PIC due to the drugs being distributed by the hospital…besides the CM has also suspended senior doctors which also shows they are not capable…if we have to spend money, we will not mind spending some more and getting our relatives treated at a private hospital instead of PIC,” Ahsan Ali, whose father is patient, said.
A HISTORY OF GOOD PERFORMANCE: Talking to Pakistan Today, Parliamentary Health Secretary Dr Saeed Elahi said the PIC was the country’s premier health facility. He said except a few surgeries, heart surgeons at the PIC were performing all kinds of cardiac operations. He said after completing the enquiry, the government would introduce a comprehensive system of procuring, storing and distributing drugs. “The PIC has been distributing free medicines for poor patients for the past 11 years and only one such incident has happened and that too has been resolved,” he said. To a question, he said the reputation of the hospital would not only be restored but new cardiology hospitals would also be established in the metropolitan, the proposal for which as a proposal is already lying with the CM.