LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday sought the report of an inquiry into deaths of patients caused by injections at the Mayo Hospital.

Justice Shahid Karim heard a petition filed by the Judicial Activism Panel (JAP), a self-styled public interest litigation organisation.

The judge also sought replies from the Punjab health secretary and other relevant authorities regarding the deaths.

During the hearing, JAP Chairman Advocate Azhar Siddique argued that the deaths caused by injections at the Mayo Hospital were a serious matter but instead of conducting a transparent inquiry, the responsibility was being placed entirely on nurses.

He pointed out that under the prevailing practices at the public hospitals, senior doctors just recommended medications, putting the entire responsibility on the nurses to administer the drugs to the patients.

He said the nurses administered medicines to the patients and the lack of training to follow the newly issued guidelines for medicines exposed the entire system. He said there must be an independent and fair investigation into the incident.

The lawyer asked the court to issue an order for a transparent inquiry into the deaths caused by the injections. He urged the court to summon the inquiry report in the larger interest of public, justice, equity and fair play.

The judge sought the inquiry report from the respondents in addition to written replies at the next hearing.

The judge advised the petitioner to file a separate petition regarding the availability of medicines and other facilities for patients at the hospital.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2025