Medical negligence: Court suspends single bench’s order

Directs police to register case against three doctors for ‘unnecessary’ abortion.

ISLAMABAD: A division bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended on Thursday an order of a single bench directing the police to register a case against three doctors for their alleged role in the ‘unnecessary’ abortion of a five-week pregnancy.

The division bench comprising Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi and Justice Athar Minallah suspended the order while hearing an intra-court appeal (ICA) filed by Dr Rizwan Oppel of Islamabad Diagnostic Centre (IDC).

While accepting stay application of the petitioner, the bench issued notices to respondents for next week.

IHC judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui ordered the Margalla SHO to register a case against two doctors from the Islamabad Diagnostic Centre — Dr Rizwan Oppel and Dr Noshaba, and Dr Shamsa Rizwan of Ali Medical Hospital.

The directives were issued on a petition filed by Arooj Nisar, who said that she was carrying twins when she had the abortion on the advice of the doctors, and that the police were not registering a case against them for their negligence.

During the proceeding on Thursday, the counsel for Oppel Advocate Tariq Mehmood Jehangiri argued that the IDC just performed ultra sound, Arooj took medicine from another hospital and her abortion was carried out in another hospital.

Besides, he said, the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC) was the authorised forum for registration of the complaints against malpractices and misconduct of doctors. He added that Arooj has already filed a complaint before PMDC and it is pending adjudication there.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th,  2016.