SC calls report on cancer-diagnostic injections contamination inquiry

Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani gives this direction while heading a 3-member bench hearing the suo motu case.


Naeem Sahoutara February 27, 2014
Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani. PHOTO: RIAZ AHMED/EXPRESS

KARACHI: The Supreme Court (SC) gave a week’s time to the deputy attorney general to file the report of inquiry conducted by the Atomic Energy Commission into the cancer-diagnostic injections issue.

Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, gave this direction while heading a three-member bench hearing the suo motu case.

On Tuesday, CJ Jillani had taken a notice of the press reports regarding the supply of cancer-diagnostic injections allegedly contaminated with undesirable radio-nuclide by Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH) that could cause cancer instead of diagnosing it.

According to the report, a radioactive tracer that is used in twenty million medical diagnostic procedure per year, at least 31 radio-pharmaceutical are based on such radioactive tracer (Technetium-99m) are used imaging and studing organ such as the brain, heart, muscle, thyroid, lungs, liver, gallbladder and kidneys, as well as the skeleton and blood for the investigation of tumors.

It says a number of such batches of tracer supply to various cancer hospital were contaminated with undesirable radio nuclides causing injurious radio activity are also replaced Calcium in the bones. That it has mainly because the technical parameters set by the researchers working on the plan for 25-30 years were changed by those who were not even part of D-3 project.

The press report claimed that the results were allegedly tempered to please the high ups. A number of Mo99—Tc99 batches supplied to various cancer hospitals were contaminated with undesirable radio nuclides.

On Wednesday, a deputy attorney general filed a report of the atomic energy commission, which denied the allegations levelled in the media report.

The report said that a committee was formed to investigate the allegations levelled by the complainant, but the same were found to be false.

CJ Jillani, on this, asked the DAG to obtain a copy of the inquiry report and place before the court within a week. The hearing was adjourned.

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