Dr Shahid Nawaz was shot in the head by a patient’s relative after an argument over a heart procedure
A cardiac surgeon of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) was gunned down inside the hospital by a patient’s relative following an argument over a heart procedure.
Sources in PIMS told Pakistan Today that an angry relative opened fire on Dr Shahid Nawaz outside the cardiology ward shortly after a heated argument over placing stents in the coronary arteries of a patient. “After shooting the doctor in the head, the gunman and an accomplice escaped from the hospital without any resistance being offered by the security guards,” said the sources.
According to PIMS spokesperson Dr Wasim Khawaja, Dr Nawaz, who was also the head of the cardiology department, had undergone an emergency neurosurgery in the wake of the deadly shooting but could not survive. “Dr Nawaz was put on a ventilator after the operation but he could not survive,” he said.
Khawaja said the hospital administration had given the police all the information about the shooting but there was no news about the unidentified shooter as yet.
The killing has panicked doctors, paramedics and other staffers as this is not the first shooting incident at PIMS. Last month a trainee nurse was shot and injured in the federal capital’s top teaching government healthcare facility.
“We demand the government allow us to carry weapons so that we can defend ourselves,” Khawaja said.
A stent is a small mesh tube that’s used to treat narrow or weak arteries. Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood away from your heart to other parts of your body.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has taken notice of the shooting and has sought a report from the Ministry of Interior in this regard.
