Maryam says Nawaz’s cardiologists not being granted access to him in jail; govt denies claim
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Nawaz Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz on Friday claimed that her father was suffering from a pain in his arm, "which is most likely to be angina", and complained that Sharif's cardiologists "have been trying to get access to him all day but [the] permission [has] not [been] granted".
The ousted prime minister is serving a seven-year sentence for corruption in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail.
"He [Nawaz] needs to be examined by the doctors who are privy to his complicated medical history," Maryam wrote on Twitter.
Sharif had undergone an open-heart surgery about three years ago in London.
Maryam, who had visited her father in the jail on Thursday, also retweeted a post by a PML-N worker, who claimed that although Sharif had been complaining about the pain in his arm since the morning, his personal doctor had not been allowed to examine him.
"Dr Adnan [Sharif's personal doctor] has urged [the] Medical officer that Mian sb is [a] heart patient and pain in arm is [a] very dangerous symptom, but he has been asked to visit on Monday," he tweeted.
Punjab govt refutes claim
Dr Shahbaz Gill, the spokesperson for the Punjab chief minister, in a video refuted claims that Sharif was being denied a meeting with his personal doctor, saying Maryam's allegations were "completely false".
Contradicting Maryam's tweet, he claimed that Dr Adnan had contacted the jail administration to request a meeting with Sharif at 5:38 in the evening.
However, Gill stated, a jail doctor had already conducted Sharif's medical check-up earlier in the day; the doctor found the PML-N chief to be healthy and his blood pressure, sugar level and ECG to be normal. Dr Adnan was therefore directed to visit the jail tomorrow to meet Sharif and he acknowledged the same, the spokesperson added.
Jail security officials had earlier told DawnNewsTV that the prison's medical officer, Dr Afsar Khan, conducted Sharif's medical check-up at around 4:30pm today. They quoted the doctor as saying that the former prime minister's condition was fine and there was no active complaint by him. His blood pressure, pulse and blood sugar levels were all normal.
Ahsan Iqbal's warning
Meanwhile, senior PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal in a tweet alleged that the government was "deliberately" depriving Nawaz and his brother Shahbaz of medical facilities.
"If something happens to the health of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, [we] will have a case registered against Prime Minister [Imran Khan], the chief minister, interior secretary and the jail superintendent," the former federal minister cautioned.
Sharif had requested a meeting with his physician after complaining of flu and fever earlier this week. He had also complained about "poor" facilities in the jail. “However, I am in good health,” he was quoted as having said by a PML-N leader who met him on Thursday.
The PML-N quaid was taken to Adiala jail after he was sentenced to seven years in prison in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills case on December 24 by an accountability court in Islamabad. He was later shifted to Kot Lakhpat jail on his own request.
The former premier was fined Rs1.5 billion and $25 million. The court also barred him from holding a public office for 10 years after completion of the sentence.
