ISLAMABAD, Nov 23: An inquiry conducted into the assault on two doctors at the Federal Government Services Hospital by the family members of a senior government official has held both the parties equally responsible for the incident, sources told Dawn on Sunday.
The sources said the 16-page inquiry report condemned the thrashing of the doctors but said they should have avoided creating such a situation.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar had taken suo motu notice of the incident on November 8 and appointed the district and sessions judge Islamabad as the inquiry officer.
Miran Sharif, daughter-in-law of the deputy secretary National Assembly, told the inquiry officer that she took her daughter to the hospital to administer her anti-rabies vaccine as she was bitten by a cat.
She said a day earlier her daughter had been administered the same vaccine at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.
However, when she rushed to the FGSH after her condition deteriorated, the casualty medical officer Riffat Pasha refused to administer the vaccine, saying it was neither included in the hospital’s list of vaccines nor contained a label. On her repeated demand, she claimed, the doctor called the Rescue-15 and started insulting her.
Ms Sharif said she called her husband but the hospital staff detained her along with her husband and other people for five hours. She said she was wearing a diamond ring worth Rs275,000 and carrying Rs40,000 in her purse which went missing in the meantime.
Her husband Ghoar Iqbal Khakwani told the inquiry officer that the hospital staff had detained them for five hours and misbehaved with his wife.
Dr Rifat Pasha told the inquiry officer that the vaccine did not carry any label. She said she did not trust the patient’s mother that it was an anti-rabies vaccine. The CMO said when Ms Sharif started misbehaving with her, she called the police personnel. She said she also asked Ms Sharif to leave the room as about 25 patients were already waiting for medical assistance. However, Ms Sharif called her husband who arrived with some other people and started beating the doctors.