LAHORE, Oct 31: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has ‘categorically declined’ to order withdrawal of a case against four doctors and a nurse of the Services Hospital.

“The doctors in question are responsible for the death of a young patient and they must face the consequences,” Punjab Health Secretary Anwaar Ahmad Khan quoted the chief minister as having said.

The health secretary told Dawn: “The doctors did not follow the standard protocol procedure which had been proved in successive inquiries. Had he (the victim) been a VIP patient, he would have been treated well.”

He stated that the message the chief minister wanted to convey in this case was very clear that the “medical professionals must not discriminate the patients and serve with full dedication”.Anwaar Ahmad said there were ‘faceless’ doctors too who had been serving wholeheartedly and the others must follow them. He maintained that it was the prerogative of the complainant alone to withdraw the case.

The police on Thursday arrested orthopaedic surgeon Dr Wasim Shafqat (senior registrar) after instituting a case against him along with Dr Saif, Dr Kashif, Dr Waqas and nurse Asma of the Services Hospital under section 302 of PPC.

In the FIR, complainant Nisar alleged that the doctors were responsible for the death of his brother Ibrar as they did not “bother to properly treat him besides administering him stale blood”.

In a related development on Friday night, the police amended the FIR and replaced the section 302 with 319 of PPC. “We have examined the case thoroughly and reached the conclusion that the doctors and nurse did not murder the man intentionally. However, their negligence cannot be ruled out,” Model Town SP Rai Ijaz told Dawn. He said the accused might face an imprisonment of up to five years under the new charges.

Besides, the SP said, the police had also arrested the owners of a private blood bank and a blood screening laboratory -- Zeeshan Saddiqui and Muhammad Fakhar – for supplying ‘stale’ blood and not screening it.

Meanwhile, the patients and visitors to almost all major public-sector hospitals continued to face inconvenience as the doctors observed strike to press the government to withdraw the case and reinstate the doctors and the nurse.

The operation theatres and outdoor patients departments remained closed throughout the day in the Service, Mayo, Lady Willingdon and Lahore General hospitals. A number of patients who had come from far-flung areas of the province for operations on their turn had to return and they now might get their turn two weeks later provided the doctors call off the protest in a day or two.

“Today (Friday) the doctors had to operate me for hernia, but I am utterly disappointed after knowing the strike,” Mrs Zahid told Dawn at the Service Hospital.

The Pakistan Medical Association has joined hands with the protesters and announced that all operation theatres and OPDs in the public hospitals of the province would remain closed from Saturday.

PMA Lahore Secretary-General Dr Azeemuddin Zahid said the FIR against the doctors was ‘politically motivated’ and if the case was not withdrawn against them the doctors would take to the street all over the province.

“If such a treatment continues to be meted out to the doctors, they will certainly not treat the patients suffering from serious ailments or casualties for fear that they might be implicated in ‘murder’ charges in case the patient expires”. And the patients would be the ultimate sufferers if the government remained adamant, he warned.

PML-Q MPAs Dr Samia Amjad, Dr Faiza Asghar and Dr Ayesha Javed joined the condemnation of what they said doctors’ implication in a case.