Fake registration certificate: SC dismisses petition against PMDC

Individuals can be punished for their acts, not the institution, says CJP

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition against the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council for allegedly issuing a fake registration certificate to a doctor.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali, after hearing arguments in the case, had dismissed the application noting that the people involved may be punished for their actions instead of penalising an institution.

Nadem Akhtar had filed an application in the apex court. He had also challenged the legality of PMDC which was also rejected by the CJP.

Akhtar had previously filed a complaint that he had been misdiagnosed and incorrectly treated by a gastroenterologist — with falsified letter of experience from PMDC — who instead aggravated his condition.

According to the FIR, Akhtar said he had gone to gastroenterologist Dr Nasiruddin Khokhar in May 2010 for treatment. The treatment extended into 2011 but it did not cure him. Instead, Akhtar claimed, wrong medicines and treatment prescribed by Dr Khokar allegedly caused him to suffer from brain atrophy and impotency.

Later it was discovered that Dr Khokar was neither a gastroenterologist nor a specialist of neurology. Rather, he was falsely presenting himself as a gastroenterologist at the hospital. He also had an experience letter from PMDC.

Based on Akhtar’s complaint, Dr Ahmad Nadeem Akbar - a former registrar of PMDC - was arrested by the FIA.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2016.