At war: 7 injured in clash with hospital staff

Medical reps clash with hospital staff a week into recently imposed ban.

GUJRANWALA: Medical representatives clashed with hospital staff just a week into the ban recently imposed by the Punjab government on medical reps entering hospital premises.

Medial reps, Shahzad, Mubashir, Sarfaraz, Qadir, Naveed, Ejaz and others, were parking their bikes in the parking of the District Headquarter Hospital when sanitary inspector, Nadeem Cheema, stopped them. The medical representatives said that they had only been banned from entering operation theatres. According to the medical reps, Cheema began to abuse them and called in his accomplices and beat them with sticks. Someone called the police who, after arriving at the scene, baton charged the hospital staff in order to stop them from throwing stones at the medical reps. As a result of the attack, the medical reps were severely injured and transferred to a private hospital for treatment.

The sanitary inspector and staff have also been accused of stealing a laptop and official documents from the medical reps. Later in the day, medical reps blocked Munir Chowk for nearly two-and-a-half hours by parking their bikes and cars outside the hospital. Satellite Town district superintendent police (DSP), Waseem Dar, arrived at the scene and tried to negotiate with the medical reps. Civil Line superintendent police (SP), Mubashir Mecan, then arrived at the scene but the medical reps refused to go listen to him either.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2010.