Flying in: Rheumatologist appears in court, warrants withdrawn

The warrants were issued for failure to appear in a medical negligence case

ISLAMABAD: A sessions court has cancelled the arrest warrants it had issued for a rheumatologist for his failure to appear before the court and face a consumer complaint filed against him by a former patient.

Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhary withdrew the warrants for former Shifa International Hospital (SIH) rheumatologist Asim Rahman after he appeared in court on November 24.

Rahman and three other SIH doctors had been issued notices by the court after a patient filed a consumer complaint against them and the hospital. Rahman told the court that he did not receive the notices as he was in the US. He said he learnt about them on November 21 when he returned from the US.

He requested the court to cancel the warrants and sought time to submit a reply. The court gave him until December 9.

Hajira Bibi, the complainant, was treated by various doctors at the hospital from November 2012 to April 2015. Abdur Rehman Nasir, counsel for the complainant, says the hospital failed to diagnose the real disease during the period and “extorted money by having her undergo irrelevant tests”.

She has sought over Rs15 million in damages.

In their reply, the hospital and the three doctors have denied all the allegations made by the complainant.

The respondents have termed the complaint frivolous and requested the court to dismiss it.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 30^th, 2016.