Nawaz Sharif to undergo further tests at Hospital

LAHORE: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will undergo further tests at Lahore’s Services Hospital after being shifted to the medical facility a day earlier.

The deposed prime minister was shifted from Kot Lakhpat prison to the hospital where he was examined by a three-member medical board.

Dr Mehmood Ayaz, a member of the medical board, said Nawaz’s health is satisfactory and that the medical board will perform further tests today. He added that doctors from the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) will also examine him.

Earlier, the Punjab home department granted permission to shift the incarcerated former premier to Services Hospital in keeping with the recommendations of a medical board.

An official of the Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology (RIC) who had seen Nawaz’s medical reports told media on the condition of anonymity, that the committee had recommended shifting the former prime minister to a hospital where he could be examined by a kidney specialist and a diabetologist.

Another doctor, who had examined Nawaz during his incarceration at Adiala Jail, said that the former premier had serious health issues that could threaten his life.

In December last year, Nawaz was sentenced to seven years in prison in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference by an accountability court.

A few days earlier, a team of doctors, including cardiologists, had conducted a medical examination of the PML-N supremo at Kot Lakhpat jail.

Blood samples of the former premier were sent to Jinnah Hospital and he had been taken to PIC for further tests. Three tests, including echocardiogram (ECG) and Thallium, were conducted of the former premier at PIC and his medical reports showed that his heart was bigger than normal.

Senior doctors had recommended that the former premier be shifted to a hospital.

Following the medical reports, PML-N leaders had criticised the federal and Punjab government for not granting the former premier “proper treatment” and rejecting his “fundamental rights”.