KARACHI/ISLAMABAD, June 18: The Federal Investigation Agency has seized medical records of PPP leader Fauzia Wahab who died in a Karachi hospital on Sunday night after fighting complications arising out of three surgeries over the past three weeks.
The action was taken by the FIA on Monday after Prime Minister’s Adviser on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik set up a committee comprising senior doctors to ascertain if the death was natural or was caused by negligence as is being alleged by certain quarters.
The deceased member of the National Assembly was admitted to the Orthopedic Medical Institute (OMI) on May 25 for a gallbladder operation which reportedly went wrong and necessitated another two surgeries. A board of senior doctors, including Prof Badar Siddiqui, Prof Tipu Sultan, Prof Shafiqur Rehman and Prof Tasleem Ahsan, was looking after her.
Mr Malik announced the formation of the inquiry committee after he had visited the house of the bereaved family to offer condolences. It was reported that relatives of Fauzia Wahab requested the adviser to set up an inquiry committee and get the matter investigated.
The committee headed by the Director General of Health will look into the medical record of Fauzia Wahab since her admission to the hospital, including examination, investigation and nursing care. It will also be investigated if there were professional lapses on the part of any of physicians, surgeons, micro-scopists and nurses. It will determine the reasons of the failure of medical treatment and if it could have been avoided.
The committee will also determine the age at which a surgeon ceases to be efficient and professionally sound and recommend the age of retirement. It is required to submit its report within two weeks after undertaking the inquiry.
Mr Malik said senior doctors would be included in the committee. A senior official said that the FIA team visited the OMI and obtained photocopies of the history of her treatment. “We have acquired the documents only for government assistance,” FIA’s Additional Director Abbas Baloch said.
Reports about a raid by the FIA triggered panic among doctors at the hospital. Dr Idrees Adhi, president (Karachi chapter)of the Pakistan Medical Association, told Dawn that he had been informed by the OMI administration that a couple of FIApersonnel had visited the hospital and taken photocopies of Fauzia Wahab’s treatment record.
In Islamabad, meanwhile, Quran Khawani was held at Aiwan-i-Sadr. It was attended by President Asif Ali Zardari, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, Minister for Railways Haji Ghulam Bilour, President’s Secretary General Salman Faruqui and staff of the president’s secretariat.