Civil Lines police on Thursday booked a senior woman doctor and a faculty member of the Sahiwal Medical College (SMC), along with seven paramedics, following the death of a female patient after a “botched” surgery at her private clinic on Wednesday night, allegedly because of their negligence.

Reports said Noureen Akhter, 45, was brought to Dr Safia’s private hospital (Al-Shifa) in the Canal Colony, complaining of pain in her uterus. The doctor performed a three-hour uterus removal operation on July 8.

However, Noureen’s condition remained unstable despite the procedure.

Noureen was admitted to a private room of the hospital.

The family says they repeatedly informed the doctor about the patient’s condition, who then performed a second surgery, just 17 hours after the first one.

The family claims that the seven-hour-long second operation was performed on July 9, during which the patient was transfused nine blood bags after her white blood cells count dropped significantly.

The patient’s family and relatives alleged that Noureen was forcefully discharged by the hospital management and later died at the Sahiwal Teaching Hospital.

They alleged she died due to the negligence of Dr Safia and her paramedical staff.

They staged a protest demonstration against the doctor, blocking a major city road for about three hours. The demonstrators finally ended the protest after police and the district administration assured them that justice would be done. The body was later handed over to police for completion of the legal procedure and the postmortem examination.

Police later registered a case against Dr Safia Izhar and seven of her paramedical staff under sections 322, 148, and 149 of the PPC on the complaint of Noureen’s husband, Imran Ashraf, a resident of Ferozepur Road, Lahore.

According to the First Information Report (FIR), the family alleges they were “forcefully discharged” from the private clinic on the evening of July 9 at 6pm, despite Noureen’s serious condition. They claim that the hospital staff told them the patient’s “inner organs got damaged during the first surgery.”

With no other choice, the family immediately took Noureen to Sahiwal Teaching Hospital, where she passed away within two hours of her admission.

Civil Lines police say that after the postmortem at the DHQ Hospital, samples of the body have been sent for forensic analysis and the body was handed over to the bereaved family for burial.

Complainant Imran Ashraf told Dawn that they want the Punjab Health Commission to intervene and provide them justice.

Source: Dawn