Supreme Court: ‘How much compensation is enough for a 23-year-old?’

Afroze told court will fix compensation amount if they are found responsible.

LAHORE: The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday ruled that if a pharmaceutical company was found responsible for the deaths of patients at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), the court would determine the amount of compensation the company should pay to the families of the victims.

A two-member bench of the SC, headed by Justice Tasadduq Hussain Jilani, was holding suo motu proceedings in the deaths allegedly due to spurious drugs produced by Afroze Chemical Industries Private Limited, Karachi.

The chief executive officer and director of the company Muhammad Abdullah Feroze appeared before the SC on Monday and said the factory had been closed since the issue came to light. He said 15 staff members of the company were helping in the investigation but so far responsibility for the deaths had not been fixed on the company.

Justice Jilani asked if the company was ready to pay compensation if its role was determined in the deaths? Feroze’s lawyer said the Punjab government had announced that it would compensate the families of the dead. Justice Saqib Nisar, the other judge on the bench, wanted to know whether the compensation paid by the government was enough for the death of a 23-year-old? The judge said if the company was found culpable, the court would not let them get by with ‘conventional’ compensation.  The court, he said, would invoke its power and issue directions for payment of compensation which it would determine.

The lawyer denied his clients’ responsibility in the deaths. The court directed him to file a written reply by March 16, the next date of hearing.

Shaikh Zayed Medical Hospital

Next on the bench’s agenda was the dissolution of Shaikh Zayed Hospital and Shaikh Zayed Post Graduate Medical College from the federal to the Punjab government. One hundred and ten faculty members had filed an application against the dissolution. Their lawyer, Hamid Khan, submitted that the hospital and the college had special status as they were formed under a trust established by the ruler of Abu Dhabi who until now had sent grants to the federal government to run the hospital.

Dr Zafar Iqbal, chairman of the hospital, presented the trust deed before the court. The court issued a notice to the Punjab government to reply by the next date of hearing.

Regarding the recommendations of health experts about health facilities at public hospitals, ways to control diseases and the status of the hospital, the court was informed that the specialists had held a meeting where recommendations had been made. Dr Javed Gardezi, a member of the team, had written an explanatory note on the issue. However, the court put off the matter till the next date of hearing.

Removal application

Another application was fixed before the court which challenged the removal of Dr Muhammad Azhar, the former head of the PIC. Dr Azhar’s lawyer Ameer Alam Khan said his client was hardworking and dedicated to his profession and had been unceremoniously removed after deaths in which he had no role.

The court issued notice to the Punjab government for reply. The notice was received by Additional Advocate General Faisal Zaman Khan who was present in court. The court asked Khan where the compensation the Punjab government had announced was? He replied that it would be paid soon.

Attorney General of Pakistan Maulvi Anwarul Haq told the court that the status of Shaikh Zayed Medical Hospital could be defined by reading Section 92 of the Civil Procedure Code. Justice Saqib Nisar asked him whether he was sure of that. The attorney general then withdrew his statement. He was, however, handed copies of several applications and was asked to come prepared on the next date of hearing.

Bad Medicine 

48,000 people, the court was told on the last date of hearing, were affected by the drugs provided to them at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology. Out of these, 150 had died.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13^th, 2012.