PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday directed the Institute of Kidney Diseases (IKD) in the provincial capital to file a report on the transplants performed by it and the doctors being trained by it.

A bench consisting of Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan and Justice Ijaz Anwar asked IKD director Prof Mazhar Khan to produce details of the transplants done by Islamabad-based leading urologist Dr Saeed Akhtar and his team.

It fixed Dec 14 for the next hearing into the matter declaring that if it didn’t find the institute’s performance to be up to the mark,then the chairman of its board of governors would be called for explanation.

The bench also examined the shortage of the popular over-the-counter painkiller and fever reducer Panadol and sought a report from the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan about it.

Drap told to produce report on Panadol shortage

The directions were issued during the hearing into three health-related petitions.

One of the petitions was filed by Kohat resident Muhammadullah Khan against the alleged illegal kidney transplantation to his uncle, Haji Habib Khan, by a group, including some doctors, for Rs2.55 million in 2018. The patient died within two days of the surgery.

His counsel, Malik Ajmal, had requested the court to direct the Federal Investigation Agency and Health Care Commission to take legal action against ‘culprits’ and hold a high-level inquiry against all those involved in the illegal organ trade.

The second is a contempt petition filed by lawyer Saifullah Muhib Kakakhel, who requested the court to order action against the chief executive of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Care Commission and high-ups of the health department over ‘non-uniform’ service charges of the labs and clinics in accordance with an earlier order of the court.

The third petition is filed by MPA Nighat Orakzai against the frequent increase in drug prices.

Besides petitioners, additional attorney general Aamir Javed, additional advocate general Syed Sikandar Hayat, IKD counsel Mansoor Tariq, IKD director Prof Mazhar Khan and a representative of the Drap appeared before the bench.

The IKD director and lawyer said the institute had signed a MoU with leading renal transplant surgeon Dr Saeed Akhtar, who conducted transplants of its patients.

IKD urologist Dr Bakhtawar Gul also showed up and said he had performed the first transplant in the institute with the help of a senior colleague.

He, however, said he was suspended in Sept 2022 over a row with the director.

The bench was informed that the doctor in question was suspended for joining a protest-cum-strike by some doctors.

The court observed that personal issues of doctors shouldn’t cause problems for patients.

The chief justice observed that the court won’t allow doctors or paramedics to close hospitals by staging strikes.

He added that it would order authorities to dismiss the doctors not performing duty properly.

The bench directed the IKD director to discuss with the BoG chairman how to improve the affairs of the institute.

It warned that if the institute’s services didn’t improve, then it would order the formation of a commission to look after its affairs.

The IKD director said the management had been imparting training to several doctors under the supervision of senior urologists.

The Drap’s representative told the court that raw material was required to be imported for Panadol’s manufacturing, so the drug’s price was increased recently.

He said a Panadol tablet cost Rs1.87 before the government increased the price to Rs2.35 through an SRO.

The bench observed that it had declared during a hearing in May that a substantial amount should be allocated in the annual budget for the manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients at the local level.

The Drap’s representative said the regulator had issued licences to four pharmaceutical companies for getting raw material from within the country.

The bench directed him to produce a report on the matter by Dec 14.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2022