Compensation: Package for contaminated medicine approved

An earlier package was rejected by the Supreme Court.

LAHORE:

Counsel for Efroze Chemicals on Monday told the Supreme Court the company would pay Rs400,000 compensation to each of the heirs of patients who died from consuming pills from a contaminated batch of Isotab it had manufactured.

He told the court that the company would also pay Rs50,000 to each of the patients who were affected by the contaminated batch.

He said the company planned to start payments on January 15 and complete them in six months.

Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jilani remarked that the court would monitor the process. He said if the payments were not made within the stipulated time, the court would take action against those responsible.

The court then adjourned the hearing of the case for six months. The three-member bench headed by the chief justice has been hearing a case against the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) spurious medicine scandal.

At a pervious hearing, the counsel for the company had told the court that Rs300,000 each would be given to the heirs of the deceased.

The bench had rejected the proposal and one of the judges had observed that the company should pay at least an amount equal to the Punjab government (Rs500,000).



Karachi-based Efroze Chemicals are manufacturers of Isotab. A batch of the medicine was found responsible for scores of deaths of cardiac patients at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology. Shadman police had registered a case against the administration of the pharmaceutical company.

LHC stays termination of Livestock Dept employees

The Lahore High Court on Monday restrained the Livestock Department from terminating services of contract staff and sought a reply from the secretary on petitions moved by several employees challenging their dismissals.

The petitioners’ counsel told the court that the Livestock Department had terminated their contracts before the stipulated period.

He said their cases should be forwarded to the Public Services Commission so that their services could be regularised.

He requested the court to stop the department from terminating the petitioners.

The court heard initial arguments and issued a stay order against removals of the petitioners. The court also directed the respondents to submit a reply in two weeks.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2013.