Notice to govt, PIC over insertion of 'expired' stents into heart patients

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) issued on Monday notices to official respondents on a petition against the alleged insertion of expired stents into heart patients at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC).

After a preliminary hearing, Justice Shahid Waheed of the high court issued notices to the Punjab government and the hospital management to furnish their replies to the petition by next hearing.

The petitioner claimed that expired stents were implanted into as many as 70 patients at the PIC. The stents inserted in June had expired in May, he added.

The act is tantamount to playing with human lives, he stated and pleaded with the court to order legal action against those responsible for it.

Earlier, the Punjab Institute of Cardiology constituted a six-member committee to look into the alleged use of expired stents.

READ: CARDIAC PATIENTS WHO RECEIVED ‘EXPIRED’ STENTS TO BE EXAMINED

The issue came to light when the PIC deputy medical superintendent (stores) in a letter to the medical superintendent revealed that expired stents were inserted into several patients at the health facility.

Last week, Punjab Health Secretary Dr Ahmed Javed Qazi held a meeting with cardiac specialists to discuss the issue.

The health secretary called for all the cardiac patients who received the stents to be contacted and examined at once. He further instructed the health officials to ensure that those involved in the scam don’t go unpunished.