In his complaint, 18-year-old Allah Yar, a resident of 455-EB village, alleged that the quack, Muhammad Zahid, gave him wrong injection which led to swelling on his right arm. The arm had to be amputated at Mayo Hospital in Lahore to prevent the infection from spreading throughout the body.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Allah Yar said that he went to the doctor on Wednesday (December 22) with severe pain in his abdomen. He said after the doctor injected him, the pain increased. He said he went back to the doctor and this time he gave him some painkillers and told him to take complete rest.
He said that the pain however kept on increasing only this time it moved to his arm as well.
“When my arm started swelling my family took me to the Vehari district headquarters (DHQ) hospital,” he said, adding that the doctors at the DHQ could not figure out the cause of the pain and swelling. They referred him to Mayo Hospital in Lahore.
He said the doctors at Mayo Hospital said that the injection was either fake or expired. They said that the poison had spread throughout his right arm and suggested that it be amputated because there was a risk that the infection could spread to other parts of the body.
Allah Yar said that on returning to Vehari after, getting discharged from the Mayo Hospital, on Sunday he contacted the police and tried to get a case registered against against Dr Zahid. He said SHO Mirza Asad Baig declined his request. He said the SHO refused to register the FIR without a reference from the executive district officer (Health).
According to the Allah Yar’s neighbours, the quack had disappeared on Sunday. They said that Zahid came back and opened his clinic after he reportedly got assurance from the police that no action would be taken against him. They said that there were no other healthcare facilities in the area and they had to consult the quack.
When contacted by the Tribune, Dr Zahid rejected that the injection was wrong. He said that Allah Yar was a regular visitor to his clinic. He said he gave him the correct injection to relieve him of the abdominal pain, “it must be the doctors at the DHQ or the Mayo Hospital who had given him a wrong medicine.” He refused comment on whether he was a registered medical practitioner.
Vehari DPO Nasir Ali Rizi said that the police would take action against the accused only if the EDO (health) tells them in writing that the man was a quack.
“We would immediately put him behind the bars and initiate a case against him once the EDO (health) attests that the man did not possess a licence to practise medicine,” he said.
When contacted, the EDO (health) declined comment. He was asked if he would take action against the accused but he declined comment.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2010.
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