KARACHI: Medical bodies have strongly condemned the prevailing hostile work environment at health facilities, stating that cases of harassment, violence and the registration of FIRs will force doctors not to take critical cases.
They were speaking to Dawn in the backdrop of a series of incidents — alleged assault on a female doctor in Lahore, registration of FIRs against 27 doctors of Liaquat University Hospital, Hyderabad and filing of a court case against medics at the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) — sparking fresh concerns over the safety of medical staff and integrity at work.
Describing the situation as alarming, the Pakistan Medical Association stated that it indicated the rapid deterioration and imminent collapse of Pakistan’s healthcare delivery system.
“Healthcare professionals across the country are operating in an unprecedented atmosphere of psychological dread, public humiliation and administrative persecution that is driving senior specialists and young medical officers to abandon clinical practice or leave the country altogether,” said Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro of the Pakistan Medical Association.
PMA representatives say doctors may be forced to refuse critical cases if threatened with murder charges, arrests
Referring to the recent cases against doctors, he regretted that the practice of medicine in Pakistan was being systematically criminalised.
“Physicians, surgeons, and trainees who dedicate their lives to managing critical, high-risk cases are now routinely targeted with murder charges (FIRs under Section 302/322 PPC) and astronomical civil damage suits for natural clinical outcomes beyond human control.”
Recent judicial orders, he said, had seen non-bailable arrest warrants issued simultaneously against entire hospital units ranging from senior professors, department heads, and registrars to post-graduate trainees and house officers treating life-saving healthcare providers like fleeing criminal absconders.
“How can a doctor treat a critically ill patient with peace of mind when facing the constant threat of a murder FIR, non-bailable arrest warrants, and public degradation? If those who save lives are treated as criminals, can Pakistan’s healthcare system survive?”
He also regretted that instead of referring clinical complaints to legally mandated healthcare commissions or peer-review medical boards, cases were directly funnelled into criminal courts.
“This bypassing of technical evaluation exposes doctors to police raids and arbitrary detention for simply performing their duties in under-resourced hospitals,” he emphasised.
Warning of severe adverse consequences of the ongoing situation on the fragile public health system, he said the state’s hostility toward the medical fraternity did not harm doctors alone; it inflicted direct, catastrophic damage on the general public.
“Traumatised and fearful of criminal prosecution, physicians are forced to state’s hostility toward the medical fraternity did not harm doctors alone; it inflicted direct, catastrophic damage on the general public.
“Traumatised and fearful of criminal prosecution, physicians are forced to practice ‘defensive medicine’, hesitating to undertake high-risk, life-saving procedures or accept critically ill patients.
“When doctors are forced to prioritise self-preservation over clinical risk-taking, the ultimate victim is the patient, who faces delayed care, refusal of admission in critical states, and compromised emergency services,” he said, adding that the hostile work environment was forcing healthcare professionals to leave the country in record numbers.
On behalf of the association, Dr Shoro called upon the prime minister, the chief justice and all provincial governments to take immediate executive and legislative action.
“Enforce an immediate prohibition on lodging Section 302/322 PPC criminal charges or issuing arrest warrants against medical personnel without prior technical evaluation and explicit clearance by health care commissions or independent medical boards. Fully implement healthcare protection acts across all provinces to secure hospitals, emergency wards, and clinical staff from mob violence, political intimidation, and illegal police actions,” he said.
He also called for removing non-technical bureaucrats from healthcare leadership and restoring qualified medical professionals to key policymaking, administrative, and regulatory roles.
“Halt aggressive FBR raids, rationalise tax policies on medical services, and treat healthcare as an essential social service rather than an exploitable commercial sector,” he concluded.
Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2026
