ISLAMABAD: After a gap of over three months, disciplinary committee of the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) has finally decided to resume hearings in cases against the health practitioners.

In September 2020, government passed the PMC bill from joint session and stopped employees of the Pakistan Medical and dental Council (PMDC) from working. Because of the legislation the disciplinary committee, which hears complaints against the health practitioners, was also dissolved along with the PMDC and PMC started functioning.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) Sajid Shah while talking to Dawn said the Disciplinary Committee had been established and going to resume hearing from next week.

“Vice President of the PMC Mr Ali Raza has been chairing the three-member committee and other members include Health Secretary Aamir Ashraf Khawaja and a lawyer Dr Asif. Though there are a number of old cases, a number of new complaints have also been filed,” he said.

He said that hearings would resume next week and expressed the hope that people would get justice.

One of the complainants Dr Talal Khurshid, who had been operated upon for his shoulder by an orthopaedic surgeon of Lahore and became disabled, told Dawn that it was unfortunate that he could not get a decision regarding his complaint even after three years of his operation.

“Being a doctor if I can be subjected to negligence, let alone other patients,” he said.

There is also another pending case of Zahid Ali Khan who died in Lahore due to negligence of a doctor who now has moved to Australia. Wife of the deceased Zahid has been running from pillar to post to get justice for her husband.

Similarly there is a famous case of Mohammad Hassan who later died at a private hospital as doctors failed to diagnose the problem.

Mashal Hassan, daughter of the deceased, lodged complaints at different platforms due to which matter was reached in the Parliament House and finally Islamabad Health Regulatory Authority has fined the hospital and referred the matter to PMC to take action against the doctor responsible for the negligence.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2021