Senior government officials in the dock over stent scam

LAHORE: An inquiry committee formed by Punjab chief minister heard the defence of Mayo Hospital’s Cardiology Head Professor Dr Saqib Shafi in the unregistered cardiac stents scam on Thursday during a meeting with the health department.

The committee is investigating the quality and procedures in place for private vendors providing cardiac stents to public hospitals after the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) unearthed possibly the biggest scandals in the provincial health sector’s history.



Shehbaz Sharif formed the four-member inquiry panel on January 16 to identify irregularities in the process of procurement and distribution of stents at government hospitals.

The committee was asked to submit its findings to the Punjab chief minister within seven days and has been holding daily meetings. According to insiders, Dr Saqib presented his defence before the committee and also provided written evidence on Thursday.

The mandate of the committee, according to a notification issued by the Chief Minister’s office, tasked it with ‘examining the whole process of procurement and dispensing of cardiac stents and vital disposables used during angiography or angioplasty procedures in government hospitals (both specialised institutes of cardiology and other tertiary level hospitals)’.

Still no FIR

Despite the passage of almost a week, no FIR has been registered by the FIA.

A senior official claimed the FIA was using delaying tactics to defer the case and investigations despite having the power to register a case on an immediate basis by exercising powers of the drug inspector, who is affiliated with FIA.

He attributed two main reasons for this delay. The first, he said, was the involvement of an influential federal minister in the case; and the second was the complex registration process involved in filings FIRs related to drugs.

He said a few suspects affiliated with four companies providing stents at the Mayo Hospital were also arrested during the first raid of the FIA. Senior officials of the authority were going to initiate a legal process against them when a federal minister intervened.

The officer said the minister not only had a stake in one of the companies, but a personality of the top management was a close aide.

He added that to register a case related to drugs, the FIA needed permission from the District Quality Control Board. He alleged the FIA, instead of immediately writing to the board for permission, established an inquiry committee that had a prime suspect as its member.

However, the committee was dissolved and another panel was formed by the orders of the chief minister. “If the FIA had immediately written the requisition letter to the board, the due process would have been completed so far.”

Pakistan Drug Lawyers Forum President Noor Muhammad Mehar told The Express Tribune that a drug inspector was appointed with FIA at all times. He said the official had the authority to exercise discretionary powers on the inspection of drugs and take legal action, including registering of case.

Meanwhile, Shehbaz has suspended all the staff of the Lahore Drug Testing Laboratory on suspicion of involvement in corruption and misuse of authority, including changing of samples. He said officials would be sent abroad for training to update the DTL along modern lines.

Root of the matter

Unregistered brands of stents are being sold in the hallways of various hospitals of Lahore in violation of almost every applicable law of the land.

The act leads to a lot of extra money-in-the-pocket for those involved, a source at the Mayo Hospital said.

He claimed that vendors have the backing of doctors, hospital administrations and even the health department. “They have openly established counters in the verandas of big hospitals, which proves the involvement of all the big fish,” he commented.

How does the system work?

Mehar said the stents in question were not of low quality, but unregistered, thus their sale is totally illegal.



He pointed out the Drug Act, 1976 allowed the import of stents but unfortunately, the government was ignoring the law and people were smuggling stents in bulk. “Our customs department does not know that stents carried by men in suitcases are worth millions of rupees and illegal in Pakistan,” he said. “On the other hand, the government is refusing to deploy bio engineers at airport counters to stop such malpractices,” he said.

Dr Saqib, who was named by the FIA in this scam, told The Express Tribune that he and his fellow doctors were not gaining any type of financial benefits from selling these stents. “Please stop my character assassination. A high-level committee of prestigious professors has already been set up. Let them work,” he added.

Government’s stand

The Punjab health department spokesperson said these stents and other medical devices were not of low quality and doctors were selling them because they were needed for immediate angioplasty.

Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique also said that DRAP would register these companies soon, adding the fact-finding committee would deal with people involved in corruption.

(With additional reporting by Muhammad Shahzad)

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2017.