Health irregularities: Six clinics sealed, 8 suspects arrested

Officials say action to be taken against owners of these health centres under PMDC law

ISLAMABAD: Following complaints filed on the Prime Minister’s Complaint Cell, the district administration raided medical establishments allegedly run by quacks in the federal capital and sealed at least six centres and arrested eight people.

Complaints had been filed on the Prime Minister’s Complaint Cell about quacks and fake doctors operating within the remits of the Tarnol police station.

Acting on the complaints, the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration’s Saddar Assistant Commissioner Saad Bin Asad, along with officers from the health ministry and a squad of the Tarnol police station, raided various health centres and clinics in the area and checked the qualifications and licences of staff and doctors there.

During the inspection, at least six clinics and medical centres were sealed for poor facilities.

In a raid on a hospital, the team apprehended a man who identified himself as Rahimullah. He was checking patients at the hospital and claimed that he was a doctor and even showed a registration card of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC).

However, when his registration card was checked, it was found that the card was forged. He was arrested and shifted to the Tarnol police station and was booked.

In a raid on Naveed Medical Centre, the team did not find a doctor on duty. Raids on Jinnah Medical and Haris Medical centres, there neither were doctors available nor were the paramedical staff trained. When the team raided Hope Care Centre, the staff there abandoned their posts and fled.

AC Asad said that they had sealed these centres under the PMDC Ordinance 2015. The owners of these centres will be prosecuted under Article 28-A of the law.

At least eight people were also arrested for running medical facilities illegally.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2019.