Stent scandal

Ethics has never been a strong suit of Pakistani institutions, be it education, medicine, business or government, despite the morals on which this country was founded. The stent scandal coming out of Punjab in which government hospitals are suspected of foul play is unsurprising but disappointing. Well-reputed hospitals have allegedly been overcharging patients and executing the procedure when not medically necessary. The most obnoxious of these reports, however, was that patients were charged for angioplasty procedures without ever going under the knife or using modern techniques. It is outrageous that those individuals wielding such power were given an opportunity to exploit patients and their families.

It would not be an extreme measure to suspend or strip certain actors involved in this scandal of their licences and titles. Limits have been crossed when precarious conditions of patients are mocked and manipulated for somebody’s financial benefit. Given that this was happening under the nose of government officials as the alleged wrongdoing was being carried out at government hospitals, it is curious that the Punjab government was slow to respond, fittingly after which the Supreme Court took suo-motu action and requested the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to deliver a comprehensive report. Ethics training needs to be extended to pharmaceutical companies, which are superfluous in offering kickbacks to physicians to promote their brands, surmounting to a multimillion dollar industry. That representatives from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are allowed anywhere near patients in life and death situations reeks of immorality. A system of checks and balances must be extended to all government and private hospitals nationwide with patient testimonies. The FIA and the Supreme Court have a critical responsibility of taking those involved to task so as to help citizens start rebuilding trust in professionals responsible for their lives.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 19^th, 2017.

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