ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Friday that the “detailed” medical reports of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan had been handed over to the family.
His post on the social media platform X came hours after the PTI again approached the Supreme Court (SC) seeking Imran’s medical report and visitation rights for his personal doctors and family members.
In the post, the minister noted that National Assembly Opposition Leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai had written a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif while PTI leaders had also approached the apex court “regarding medical checkup of Imran Ahmad Niazi, who is serving his sentences in Central Jail, Rawalpindi”.
“On directions from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), a detailed report has been sent by the executive director of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) hospital to the superintendent of Central Jail, Rawalpindi (Adiala), which has been handed over to the family,” he said.
According to the report sent by Pims Executive Director Dr Rana Imran Sikander, the hospital was directed by the PMO to communicate and give an update about Imran’s medical condition.
“Mr Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi (age 74 years) reported reduced vision in the right eye. A senior and qualified ophthalmologist from Pims, Islamabad, conducted a complete eye assessment at Adiala Jail, including slit lamp examination, fundoscopy, intraocular pressure measurements, essential laboratory tests and Optical coherence tomography of the retina,” he said in the report.
“Based on his assessment, a diagnosis of right central retinal vein occlusion was made, and hospital-based follow-up treatment was recommended,” he said.
He further said that Imran was then brought to Pims for the procedure, where the treatment plan was explained to him.
“Accordingly, informed consent was obtained from the patient prior to the procedure,” the Pims executive director said.
He said that the procedure was carried out in the operating theatre under standard sterile protocols and monitoring. It was completed smoothly in approximately 20 minutes, he said.
“During the treatment, the patient remained vitally stable, and was discharged with routine post-procedure care instructions, follow-up advice and documents,” Dr Rana stated.
The development comes after the government last week admitted that the former premier was treated at Pims in Islamabad. The admission came days after reports regarding the treatment of Imran emerged in mainstream media.
The PTI had subsequently condemned the act of “secretly transferring” Imran to Pims, deliberately keeping his family and the party leadership uninformed, and denying him access to personal physicians.
Meanwhile, the Pims executive director, had earlier said that Imran’s eye procedure was completed “smoothly” and that he remained “stable” during the intervention.
It is worth mentioning that National Assembly Opposition Leader Achakzai on Tuesday wrote a letter to PM Shehbaz, seeking his “personal intervention” for the PTI founder’s medical examination by the jailed leader’s “trusted” doctors.
Report confirms diagnosis but no treatment plan: Imran’s doctor
Imran’s personal physician, Dr Aasim Yusuf, said in a video statement that the PTI founder’s medical report contained the diagnosis of his condition but it did not outline the investigation process or a plan for further treatment.
“A short time ago, Imran’s family shared a copy of a report released by Pims in Islamabad, summarising the investigations and treatment which he underwent at that hospital in late January this year,” he said.
“The report describes the investigations which were conducted and confirms that a diagnosis of central retinal vein occlusion was made,” Dr Yusuf explained, adding that it did not provide details or results of medical investigations. According to Dr Yusuf, the report outlined that Imran was treated with an intraocular injection.
“Very importantly, the concern that we had raised earlier, that Imran ought to be treated by a retinal specialist, has not been addressed,” the physician added, noting that qualified and trained ophthalmologists saw and treated the PTI founder.
“We have stated earlier that we have no doubt as to the qualifications and experience of the individuals in question, but this is a specialised condition and general ophthalmologists are not best situated to investigate and treat this condition, which should always be treated by retinal specialists as far as possible,” Dr Yusuf explained.
“There is mention of the need for follow-up, but the exact details of how this is to be planned and what other investigations or treatments are planned have not been clarified in the report,” he added.
Moreover, Dr Yusuf highlighted that the possibility of an underlying medical condition was not mentioned.
“It is unclear whether a medical specialist saw or evaluated Imran during his illness, or has done so since, to rule out these very important conditions, which do need investigation and treatment in their own right,” the physician asserted.
Reiterating the seriousness of Imran’s condition, Dr Yusuf said, “We are not out of the woods as yet.
“We are still very concerned about Imran’s health and particularly the condition of his eye, and would urge the authorities to please allow me and a team of qualified and appropriately trained retinal specialists to see him urgently and to participate in his care, so as to ensure the best possible outcome and prevent any further damage to his eye,” he requested.
‘Imran, Bushra being provided care in accordance with jail rules’
Separately, the Adiala jail administration informed an anti-terrorism court in Islamabad that Imran and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were being provided medical treatment in accordance with the jail rules.
A brief report on medical facilities provided to Imran and Bushra Bibi was submitted to the court of ATC judge Amjad Ali Shah, following earlier contempt proceedings over its non-submission.
The report, filed by Jail Deputy Superintendent Jamaat Ali Shah, stated that medical examinations and treatment for the PTI founder and Bushra Bibi were being carried out in accordance with the Pakistan Prison Rules, 1978.
The court had earlier issued a contempt of court notice to the Adiala Jail superintendent for failing to submit the required report, prompting jail authorities to present the document during the hearing.
Further, the report by the Pims executive director was also submitted to the same court by Adiala jail officials.
However, Imran’s sister Aleema took to X to state that the SC chief justice had “committed last Friday that Imran Khan’s medical reports would be provided to his family”.
“Today, when the jail superintendent appeared before the ATC only two brief notes were submitted,” she said. “This conduct reflects a complete disregard for the authority of the chief justice of the SC,” she said.
“We urge Chief Justice Yahya Afridi to issue a contempt notice to the jail authorities and ensure that Imran Khan’s medical reports are handed over to his family without any further delay,” she asserted.
PTI approches Supreme Court
Earlier in the day, PTI’s Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, expressing concern over Imran’s health, said that the party had submitted a memorandum to the registrar requesting access to Imran for his personal doctors, as well as requesting his medical report.
The memorandum, a copy of which is available with Dawn, reiterated the PTI’s request that “immediate access to Mr Imran Khan be provided to his family, doctors, lawyers and friends”.
Gohar said that this was the “10th time” the party was approaching the apex court about Imran and that they had approached the high courts 16 times as well.
Gohar said that Imran’s health was a “very important issue, not just for PTI’s parliamentarians but for the whole country and every Pakistani”.
The party chairman said that until now, they had not received information on Imran’s medical reports and the procedure that he recently underwent.
“In the middle of this, Tuesday and Thursday passed by,” Gohar added. “Still, there was no meeting of Imran with either family members or lawyers, nor his personal physician or doctors.”
According to Gohar, Achakzai had written a letter to PM Shehbaz seeking his “personal intervention” for Imran’s medical examination by his “trusted” doctors, there had been no answer.
Hence, he said, the PTI was again requesting the chief justice to make sure that not only would the party receive the report about the jailed leader, but his doctors would be able to meet with him as quickly as possible, for the peace of mind of “his family, the party and the whole country”.
“This is our minimum,” he said.
Malik Asad and Nasir Iqbal also contributed to this report.
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