PESHAWAR, Aug 19: Doctors at the Khyber Teaching Hospital have been allegedly fleecing the poor patients by sending them forcibly to certain medical stores for the sake of commissions, patients’ relatives told Dawn here on Tuesday.

“The in charge of a particular ward sends us to a medical store located at Karachi Market, Khyber Bazaar for purchase of drugs. Though the same drugs are available in the nearby market, but the doctor is insisting to buy medicines from the selected place which is too far from the hospital,” said an attendant, who is looking after his ailing mother at the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH).

Another person, whose brother is a cancer patient and is in the same ward, complained: “I was forced to buy drugs from the same market in Khyber Bazaar for Rs20,000. Everyday, I go to the same place in the scorching heat to purchase drugs. The doctor of the ward had got his own shop located near his private clinic”.

Another person at another ward of the same hospital revealed that one of the doctors, had prescribed some implants for his son’s operation. He went to a particular chemist’s shop located in front of the casualty ward.

“The chemist took Rs9,000 from me and said that he would provide the implants to my patient at the operation theatre,” he said and added that he didn’t know, if his patient needed these implants, because after operation, the X-rays showed that there was nothing visible inside the foot which had been operated upon.

According to him, some doctors have opened medical stores where they wilfully send patients’ relatives for buying drugs. Several times, patients have lodged complaints with the administration, but they are hand in glove with these doctors and therefore no action was forthcoming.