Free medicine: FIA orders arrest of pharmacist, store keeper
Petition filed in Lahore High Court calls for appointment of a health minister in Punjab.
LAHORE:
The Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) ordered the arrest of a pharmacist and a store keeper allegedly involved in giving out adulterated medicine to patients In Lahore, Express News reported on Saturday.
The pharmacist and the store keeper of a laboratory were ordered against giving out the adulterated medicines which had visible spots on them, but they went against the decision and handed out the fatal medicine.
It was recently revealed that the licence of one of the three pharmaceutics laboratories that supplied the apparently contaminated drugs to the PIC expired in April 2011. The company continued to manufacture the medicines in bulk and even supplied them in the open market in addition to governmental hospitals.
The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed to probe the PIC medicine case, comprising FIA officials and the federal inspector of drugs, decided to contact the families of the patients who reportedly died due to the reaction of the medicine.
The team has initiated a door-to-door operation to record statements of the family members to obtain relevant documents and proof in the case.
The Punjab Home Department also wrote a letter to the interior ministry and the FIA on January 25 to include the names of the owners of five under-question pharmaceutical laboratories in the Exit Control List.
On the other hand, the Punjab government has itself failed to take any legal action in the case so far.
Out of the five laboratories allegedly involved in supplying the adulterated medicines, three are in Lahore and the rest are in Karachi. The FIA Punjab Chapter has registered cases against the laboratories in Lahore, but the Sindh Chapter has not registered any cases.
The medicine has so far resulted in the deaths of 109 people in the Punjab province, as three more people died on Saturday in the Services Hospital.
The dead include 60-year-old Sarwar Bibi, 70-year-old Rasheed Bibi and 37-year-old Rehmat.
Petition filed against Shahbaz Sharif
A petition was filed in the Lahore High Court against Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
The petition said that the absence of a health minister resulted in the death of over a 100 people, and the chief minister should appoint a minister to control the situation.
The petition also claimed that it was against the rules of business that the chief minister is in-charge of 18 ministries in the province.
The Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) ordered the arrest of a pharmacist and a store keeper allegedly involved in giving out adulterated medicine to patients In Lahore, Express News reported on Saturday.
The pharmacist and the store keeper of a laboratory were ordered against giving out the adulterated medicines which had visible spots on them, but they went against the decision and handed out the fatal medicine.
It was recently revealed that the licence of one of the three pharmaceutics laboratories that supplied the apparently contaminated drugs to the PIC expired in April 2011. The company continued to manufacture the medicines in bulk and even supplied them in the open market in addition to governmental hospitals.
The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed to probe the PIC medicine case, comprising FIA officials and the federal inspector of drugs, decided to contact the families of the patients who reportedly died due to the reaction of the medicine.
The team has initiated a door-to-door operation to record statements of the family members to obtain relevant documents and proof in the case.
The Punjab Home Department also wrote a letter to the interior ministry and the FIA on January 25 to include the names of the owners of five under-question pharmaceutical laboratories in the Exit Control List.
On the other hand, the Punjab government has itself failed to take any legal action in the case so far.
Out of the five laboratories allegedly involved in supplying the adulterated medicines, three are in Lahore and the rest are in Karachi. The FIA Punjab Chapter has registered cases against the laboratories in Lahore, but the Sindh Chapter has not registered any cases.
The medicine has so far resulted in the deaths of 109 people in the Punjab province, as three more people died on Saturday in the Services Hospital.
The dead include 60-year-old Sarwar Bibi, 70-year-old Rasheed Bibi and 37-year-old Rehmat.
Petition filed against Shahbaz Sharif
A petition was filed in the Lahore High Court against Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
The petition said that the absence of a health minister resulted in the death of over a 100 people, and the chief minister should appoint a minister to control the situation.
The petition also claimed that it was against the rules of business that the chief minister is in-charge of 18 ministries in the province.