LAHORE: A day after it was revealed that the eyesight of as many as 40 diabetes patients was affected due to substandard injections in Lahore, cases of vision impairment were also reported in other cities of Punjab including Multan and Sadiqabad.
Punjab caretaker Minister for Primary and Secondary Healthcare Nasir Jamal revealed on Sunday that separate dealers were selling counterfeit injections in Lahore, Kasur, Multan, and Sadiqabad.
He added that data on those selling the counterfeit injections in different cities of the province was being gathered.
“None of the operatives of the fake injection-selling network has been arrested yet,” he said.
Moreover, he added: “A list of the people affected by fake injections is also being prepared.”
During a presser today, interim Federal Health Minister Nadeem Jan, while updating people on the latest developments about the matter said that an investigation into the issue was underway.
He said that a committee of five people had been formed to look into what had led to vision impairment of the victims.
Jan further added that the committee would analyze the situation from all angles and would determine whether the problem lay in the medicine, the competency of the doctors, or the sterilization of the tools used.
He said that inquiry could take around two to three days.
Yesterday, the Punjab Health Department constituted a committee headed by ophthalmologist Dr. Asad Aslam to probe the matter, after Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Chaudhry Manzoor revealed that his brother and a friend’s eyesight was affected when they received the shot inside their eyes.
The PPP leader said when he shifted his brother to a Lahore hospital, 18 other patients with the same condition were already admitted to the medical facility.
However, Jan added that the entire batch of medicine had been pulled off the market and a first information report (FIR) had been lodged against two suppliers.
