LAHORE, Jan 22: In the headlines for the death of its patients due to suspected drug reaction, the Punjab Institute of Cardiology has stopped giving free life-saving medicines to its poor patients threatening the lives of another 8,000 or so registered patients.

These patients are in addition to those 2,000 who got free medicines from the PIC since the suspected batches of four life-saving drugs were supplied to the institute in December, a source close to the development told Dawn on Sunday.

PIC Chief Executive Prof Muhammad Azhar told Dawn the institute had asked these patients to purchase medicines from the market for the time being as efforts were underway for arranging alternative medicines for them.

Meanwhile, a combination of four drugs, after initial probe, was made public for the first time on an official website of the health department on Sunday. It advised the consultants to stop prescribing and PIC heart patients to stop using Cardiovestin (Simvastatin), Alfagril (Clopidogrel), Concort (Amlodipine) and Soloprin (Asprin), till the findings of the probe.

Though the PIC has strongly recommended to health department for immediate provision of alternative medicines to the needy patients, no measures have been taken so far to address the issue.

As the boards of management (BoMs) of various teaching institutions have not been re-constituted, the PIC administration expressed its inability to strike any deal with pharmaceutical companies for the purchase of alternate medicines owing to legal complications.

A source close to the development revealed that according to the PIC data compiled so far, around 8,000 registered patients visited the institute during last four weeks to get free medicines since the drug reaction was noticed.

Sources said the PIC consultants could collect particulars of only 200 of its patients under treatment at various public sector health facilities of the provincial capital during the last two weeks. A special cell of the PIC senior consultants has started analysing the cases to know the factors behind their deteriorating health.

A 22-member committee constituted by the health secretary on Saturday announced a new website -- www.healthinfo.punjab.gov.pk -- and a helpline (0800-99000) to guide the patients, pharmacists and consultants treating the cardiac patients of PIC at various health institutes etc.

The website displayed the names of suspected drugs under a title ‘information regarding recent outbreak of drug induced bone marrow suppression’ for the patients who visited the Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Lahore, from Dec 13, 2011 to Jan 21, 2012.

The website further said: “Recently a number of patients with history of Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) and taking oral medication from the PIC, have shown skin hyper pigmentation, GI symptoms, severe thrombocytopenia and leucopenia” Head of the 22-member probe committee, Allama Iqbal Medical College Principal Prof Dr Javed Akram said the poor heart patients being denied free medicines were more vulnerable to the mysterious disease as compared to those fighting the drug reaction at public sector hospitals of the provincial capital.

In view of the situation, he said, the Jinnah Hospital has dispatched an initial stock of 50,000 tables of Atorvastatin and 20,000 tables of Amlodibine to the PIC for the poor patients to avoid further mishaps.

He further said the committee has devised a standard operating procedure (SOP) for testing of the suspected medicines and blood, urine, nail and hair samples of the ailing patients.

ANOTHER BODY: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has constituted a nine-member committee headed by CM’s inspection team Chairman Najam Saeed for conducting an inquiry into the deaths.

A government spokesman said the chief minister would personally monitor the probe whereas the committee would submit its report to the CM within two days. —Asif Chaudhry