Hospital staff booked over ‘negligence’ after woman’s death in Karachi

Police arrest three staff member of govt hospital, seize injection for chemical analysis

KARACHI: Awami Colony Police Station registered a case on Friday regarding the death of a woman, who died due to alleged negligence of the doctors and staff at a government hospital in Korangi no 5 on Thursday night.

Her funeral prayers were offered at Noorani Mosque and the deceased was laid to rest at Ibrahim Hyderi graveyard, near her home.

Asmat, 25, visited a government hospital on Thursday complaining about tooth-ache. The doctor on duty, Dr Ayaz, wrote a prescription of an injection and handed it over to the compounder, Shahzaib.  Asmat’s condition deteriorated as soon as the compounder administered the injection. She was immediately shifted to and emergency ward on a stretcher but upon examination the doctors confirmed that she had died.

Soon after her death, Asmat's family began protesting. The police reached the hospital and arrested the compounder.



According to the Awami Colony Police, the deceased’s brother, Ghulam Muhammad, has nominated the doctor on duty and the compounder in the case. The police are conducting raids to arrest Dr Ayaz. The police have seized mobile phones and other possession of the deceased and Shahzaib and investigation is underway.

Awami Colony Police SHO Shahid Khan said that they had taken the injection, which was given to Asmat, into custody. The injection will be sent for the chemical analysis while the post-mortem of the deceased will be conducted to determine the cause of death. The police has also arrested two more technicians from the hospital and started their interrogation. Khan added that legal action will be taken against the responsible elements once all the facts related to the incident are known.

Asmat’s brother demanded that the family be provided justice. He said that Dr Ayaz, who is on the run, should be arrested and his licence should be suspended.

The deceased’s father, Babu, told The Express Tribune that he was a labourer and had three daughters and two sons. Asmat was his second child. He said that Asmat complained of a toothache and told him that she was going to a government hospital in Korangi no 5.



He received a call from the hospital at around 2pm and he was told that Asmat’s condition was not well. She died before they could reach the hospital. He said that they were told that her daughter was administered the wrong injection which led to her death. Babu demanded that the police conduct a neutral investigation of the incident.

On the other hand, the compounder told The Express Tribune that Asmat used to work with the hospital through a non-governmental organisation (NGO). She left the job two months ago. He said that she came to the hospital on Thursday afternoon and told him that she had a severe toothache. Shahzaib told her that ENT specialist Dr Ayaz was present and she should visit him for a check-up.

When she returned from the check-up, Shahzaib administered her the injection prescribed by Dr Ayaz. The moment he injected her, Asmat’s condition deteriorated. Shahzaib added that they immediately took her to the emergency ward where the doctors declared that she had died.

Shahzaib said that he works at the hospital as a technician and holds a compounders licence. He said that the doctor should be arrested because he prescribed the injection which caused Asmat's death.

Hospital’s sources said that the ENT specialist prescribed the injection to Asmat, who bought it from the hospital’s medical store. She then went to the tuberculosis (TB) section of the hospital where a technician administered her the injection she had purchased.

Sources said that it has not been ascertained as yet as to why Asmat went to the TB section when she could easily have gotten other nursing staff present at the hospital to administer her the injection.