SIALKOT, Aug 28: On the recommendation of the Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC), the Daska City police registered a case against a doctor and his medic for showing negligence in the treatment of a journalist which led to his death in May last year.

The district administration also sealed the hospital.According to the first information report lodged under sections 34 and 322 of the Pakistan Penal Code, Kamran Afzal was admitted to Dr Shahid Farooq’s hospital on May 22, 2012, with inflamed appendix.

The doctor with an untrained anesthetist, Shabbir, performed a surgery and discharged him, saying the operation had gone wrong. After two days, Dr Farooq repeated the procedures which deteriorated the patient’s condition. Kamran died at Shaikh Zayed Hospital in Lahore on May 31.

The commission’s report said Dr Farooq performed surgery without having proper human resources; Anesthesia was not given by a qualified anesthetist; unauthorised people were allowed into the operation theatre during the operation, and the surgeon should have done an ileostomy with peritoneal lavage which could have saved the patient from further sepsis and eventual fatal septic shock which resulted in the death of the patient.

The commission recommended a Rs500,000 fine for the doctor under Section 28 of the PHC Act of 2010, criminal proceedings against the doctor and Shabbir.

It also recommended that the case of Dr Farooq, also a government employee, should also be referred to the Health Department for considering his suspension.

The commission directed the government to conduct a survey of private hospitals in Sialkot and take necessary action against private clinics and hospitals having unqualified staff.