A disturbing incident of medical negligence has come to light in Pakistan, where hospital authorities have been accused of swapping a baby boy with a dead baby girl, the Dawn reported. According to an official statement, the parents brought their four-day-old sick baby boy to a Children’s Hospital in Lahore after he fell ill. During the treatment, doctors at the hospital declared the boy dead and handed over the body to his father. But when the father took the body to his hometown, Gujranwala, for burial, he was shocked to find it was a girl. He immediately rushed back to the hospital with the body of the girl, claiming that they had brought their baby boy for treatment. 

According to Dawn, this incident has prompted an investigation. After learning of the shocking accusations, the hospital authorities launched an inquiry into the matter. Later, the hospital authorities found that the baby boy had reportedly gone “missing,” the official said. 

In his formal complaint, the father detailed the sequence of events and accused the hospital of substituting his son with the dead girl’s body. He urged the police to lodge a case against the hospital’s managerial officials and the doctors concerned for committing the crime and demanded the recovery of his son. 

The Punjab Health Department in Pakistan swiftly responded to the incident, forming an inquiry committee comprising three senior doctors from the Children’s Hospital. The team was tasked with conducting a thorough investigation and submitting a detailed report to uncover the truth, per the outlet.

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In its findings, the committee declared that the investigating officers questioned all the relevant staff, including doctors, nurses and paramedics, who remained at the neonatal unit where the baby boy was provided treatment. They also examined the footage of the CCTV cameras. 

During their investigation, the hospital management claimed that the parents had themselves taken away the male baby from the hospital against medical advice, without explaining the issue of baby “exchange”. The report also stated that the condition of the newborn got critical despite all possible treatments, and the doctors shifted him to the high-dependency unit to put him on ventilator support. However, the parents of the patient refused to get further treatment and left the hospital along with the baby after signing the Leave Against Medical Advice form, the report said. 

The report did not address the issue of the alleged exchange of the babies. Meanwhile, police have lodged an FIR on the complaint regarding the alleged swapping of the baby boy with the dead baby girl by the hospital staff. The investigation is ongoing.

Pakistan lifts the ICC Champions Trophy after beating India in the finals in London on June 18, 2017.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

The Pakistan Cricket Board has earmarked Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi as venues for next year’s Champions Trophy, continuing to insist that the tournament will stay in the country despite speculation of a ‘hybrid model’ being under consideration to ensure India’s participation.

The Champions Trophy, which was last held in England in 2017, is expected to be held tentatively in February-March next year.

India have not yet confirmed participation and there is speculation that the ICC could use the ‘Hybrid Model’ and hold the country’s matches at a neutral venue if the team does not get government clearance to travel. The ICC has already made it clear that it will not ask any member nation to defy government policy.

“We’ve sent the schedule for the matches in Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi said at a press conference in Lahore.

“The ICC’s security team came and we had a very good meeting. They looked at arrangements here and we’ll also share stadium upgrade plans with them.

“We are trying to ensure we host a very good tournament in Pakistan,” Naqvi informed.

The PCB has been steadfast in insisting that the tournament will not be altered in any way to accommodate India.

The ‘Hybrid Model’ of hosting was used in the Asia Cup last year. The Asian Cricket Council, headed by BCCI secretary Jay Shah, held India’s matches in Sri Lanka even though Pakistan was the official host of the tournament.

Naqvi also conceded that condition of all three proposed venues is currently sub-standard in terms of hosting international games of cricket.

“If you look at Gaddafi (here), it is good but the viewing experience is not great for cricket. Football maybe, not cricket,” Naqvi said.

“We need to improve facilities in the stadiums, where there are some old problems. Karachi is in bad shape. So on May 7, we will finalise bids from international companies who will come and help us design.

“We are already late but we need to do these upgrades in four-five months. It will be a very tough test but we can do it.,” Naqvi concluded.

File photo of Maryam Nawaz.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has once again landed in trouble, as the Session Court has been moved against her for donning a police uniform while attending a passing-out parade on April 25, according to ARY News.

In his plea, the plaintiff claimed that Ms. Nawaz’s wearing of a police official’s uniform was “unlawful.” The plea stated that no one is permitted to wear the official state institution outfit. The petitioner said that despite Ms. Nawaz’s plea to the police, no action was taken against her.

The petitioner begged the judge to provide instructions to file a complaint against Ms. Nawaz, the Chief Minister of Punjab. The case’s hearing was postponed by the Court until April 29, as per ARY News.

Wearing the uniform, Punjab Chief Minister (CM) MS. Nawaz, notably participated in a police passing-out parade in Lahore. The Chief Minister of Punjab bestowed a guard of honour and presented awards to the Police Training College’s outstanding achievers, reported ARY News.

Notably, Ms. Nawaz, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nominee, had made history by becoming Punjab’s first female Chief Minister. She secured 220 votes in the election, triumphing over her opponent, Rana Aftab Ahmad of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), who received zero votes due to a boycott by SIC members.

The Punjab Assembly session, presided over by newly-elected Speaker Malik Ahmad Khan, witnessed opposition members from the Sunni Ittehad Council boycotting the proceedings. Speaker Mr. Khan declared that only elections for the Chief Minister would take place, and no lawmakers were permitted to speak during the session, according to ARY News.