Hepatitis C drug scam: Implicated health officials claim ill health, avoid remand

Anti-corruption body continues investigation undeterred.

PESHAWAR: After two of the three heatlh officials accused of distributing spurious hepatitis C drugs claimed ill health, a medical board was set up to investigate if their condition was stable enough to be remanded.

District and Sessions Judge Shaibar Khan directed a three-member medical board be made, chaired by the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Peshawar commanding officer.

Director General (DG) Health Services Dr Sharif Ahmad Khan, former hepatitis control programme director Dr Ghulam Subhani and assistant junior clerk Mubarak Shah were arrested on Wednesday by the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE).

The health officials have been accused of purchasing and supplying substandard interferon injections, a drug used in the treatment of the hepatitis C virus (HCV). The court of Judicial Magistrate Mohsin Abbas sent the accused into police custody for a two-day remand on Thursday.

DG Dr Sharif Ahmad Khan was admitted to the Lady Reading Hospital’s (LRH) Coronary Care Unit (CCU) late Thursday night after he complained of heart problems and his condition also did not seem normal.



An official of the ACE told The Express Tribune it was still not known when Dr Sharif would be discharged as the matter will now be dealt with by the three-member CMH board.

“Ghulam Subhani was complaining of backache and was immediately shifted to the LRH where the he spent the night. He was discharged at 2pm (Friday) after the doctor examined and discharged him. We have taken him into custody again,” said the official.

The official added the suspects’ unexpected health issues were “creating problems” by stalling their investigations. The two-day remand period which allowed the anti-corruption body to pursue investigations would be over today (Saturday).

However, the official maintained, “We are not waiting till the DG is discharged from the hospital – we have started our preliminary investigation as we have the other two officials in our custody. We will connect the dots to others who are suspected to be involved in this scam.”

The vials purchased and distributed by the implicated health officials cost Rs250 million and were being used in government-run hospitals. Investigations revealed the interferon was below industry standards.

After the local court announced the two-day remand on Thursday, employees of the health directorate announced a strike in protest of the detention of their superiors. The strike continued on Friday for a second day, with the department observing a complete shut-down.

Meanwhile, District and Sessions Judge Shaibar Khan accepted pre-arrest bail request for Muhammad Ali Chauhan, one of the health department officials implicated in the drug scandal.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th, 2013.