ISLAMABAD, June 16: The founder of the country’s nuclear programme, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, was provided intensive medical care on Thursday after he suffered some cardiac problems, a source close to Dr Khan told Dawn.
The Inter-Services Public Relations’ Director-General, Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan, said doctors advised angiography after Dr Khan had felt chest pain two days ago.
He said cardiologists of the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) visited Dr Khan and provided necessary treatment. “Dr Khan’s angiography would be performed in a day or so,” he said.
The ISPR chief denied reports that Dr Khan had suffered a heart attack. “He is absolutely alright and there is nothing serious,” he added.
Four doctors of the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) Hospital visited Dr Khan at his residence and provided necessary treatment to the 69-year-old scientist, the source said.
The doctors conducted pathological tests and performed scans of Dr Khan. “After having reports of the tests, it could be ascertained whether Dr Khan had suffered a heart attack,” the source added.
The source said Dr Khan was at his residence and his condition was serious.
The source said Dr Khan often complained of pain in his left hand whenever he had pressure of official work.
The KRL doctors have also recommended a magnetic resonance image (MRI) scan of Dr Khan.
REUTERS ADDS: The government said that Dr Khan had been taken to hospital with a heart problem.
“He has had some heart pressure ... and he may have angioplasty surgery in the next two or three days,” Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said.
Dr Khan was taken from his Islamabad home to a military hospital in Rawalpindi after developing heart problems on Wednesday, according to an official source.
The scientist had been suffering from stress and was receiving treatment for hyper-tension, the source said.
