Irreparable loss: Hopes of starting a family crushed as man loses wife to a quack

Mounting social pressure forces a lot of partners to seek the help of quacks.

KARACHI:

Mounting social pressure on married couples who have not had their first child within the first couple of years of their marriage forces such partners to seek the help of quacks having little or no expertise on gynaecology.

One such case is that of 32-year-old Amjad Khan, who married his 24-year-old cousin, Uzma in 2010 and since then they had wanted a child. Though their families did not fret over this matter, they felt the society’s pressure and decided to consult doctors.

Khan’s wife, who hailed from Attock, felt uncomfortable in crowded place and was extremely shy by nature. Khan recalled that once, when they had an appointment at Ziauddin Hospital in Keamari, they were asked to go back as Uzma felt uneasy in the crowd.



It was a female relative who advised Khan to visit a nearby clinic for treatment. Dr Shabana Soomro, the owner of Sania Clinic and Maternity Home, recommended a minor operation for Uzma.

“Dr Soomro informed us that the treatment would cost Rs6,500,” said Khan. “I arranged the money and visited the clinic on August 31 around 11am,” he said. The doctor operated on his wife and Uzma was released after only two-and-a-half hours. “She was unconscious when we brought her home,” her husband recalled.

Soon after, Uzma started excreting liquid stools and asked for water more frequently. Khan called Dr Soomro when he saw his wife was not recovering. “The doctor told me not to worry as this was just an effect of the medications.”

According to Khan, Uzma’s condition did not improve till late night and by then he had contacted the doctor four times. “I was repeatedly told not to worry. The doctor also advised me to bring Uzma to the clinic in the morning.” He went to bed after 1am while his mother nursed Uzma.

The first morning of September separated the two forever. “My mother was crying so I ran towards the room. I checked her veins but there was no pulse,” he said, recalling how he saw that Uzma’s stomach was swollen and there was bleeding from her mouth.

Uzma’s cousin, Hameed, accused Khan of the death and demanded the body be sent to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for a post-mortem. “The doctors confirmed the death was the due to the doctor’s negligence,” Hameed confirmed.

After the burial, Khan reported the matter to Jackson police. To his shock, the doctor told the police that Khan had brought Uzma for an abortion. “Instead of a proper investigation, I was slapped with an accusation of an abortion. We both wanted a child and our families knew it.”

The police also informed Khan that Dr Soomro had received her professional degree from Karachi University.

For her part, Dr Soomro claimed she does not remember such a patient. She also insisted that she completed her MBBS from Sindh Medical College and it can be verified.

Not one to give up, Khan has filed a complaint to the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) for a thorough investigation. Their initial reports, copies of which are available with The Express Tribune, indicated that Dr Soomro is a quack, confirmed Dr Aziz Khan Tank, chairperson of PMA’s Anti-Quackery Committee and member of Anti-Quackery Committee of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, Islamabad, who was looking into the case.

“She has already killed two women,” accused Khan. One of those families also had Dr Soomro’s qualifictaions investigated, he added. “No one can bring back my wife but I want to keep others away from this quack,” he promised.

Meanwhile, Khan and his family are dealing with the consequences of Uzma’s death. Khan’s father, who Uzma would take care of diligently, died a month after her death. “I lost my wife and father in one go - and all for wanting a child of my own.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 9^th,2013.