File photo. Tolga Akmen—AFP
Doctor says former prime minister may face cardiac complications if he returns to Pakistan without ‘definitive medical treatment’
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s legal counsel on Tuesday submitted a medical report to the Lahore High Court (LHC) that once again cautioned him against traveling to Pakistan until he had undergone “definitive medical treatment” to treat his ailments.
The three-page report, signed by Dr. Fayaz Shawl of the Washington Adventist Healthcare White Oak Med Center, emphasized that Sharif was found to be “under a lot of stress” in his latest evaluation. “If he [Nawaz] returns to Pakistan without undergoing a definitive treatment in London, the stress of living again in a solitary confinement as well as loss of a partner … can further compromise his cardiac status before definitive treatment can be rendered,” he added.
Seemingly rebutting the government’s claims of Sharif being well enough to return home in light of his daily walks and restaurant outings, the report recommended that he continue “routine walks in open fields as well as stress-free physical activity,” while barring him from visiting crowded places during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also said he should stay near medical facilities where he had been treated for coronary angiography.
“His co-morbidities make him a ‘high risk’ candidate for health, respiratory failure, etc. should he contract COVID-19 infection,” it said, adding that a relapse of his “acute coronary syndromes” had been avoided due to the care provided by the facilities in London.
The report noted that the former prime minister’s examination in London had confirmed significant ischemia—in which the heart does not receive enough blood—and needed a coronary angiography to determine his coronary anatomy and recommend appropriate treatment. Until this can be established, read the report, Sharif might “need either complex coronary intervention or redo CABC [Coronary Artery Bypass Graft].” This process had been delayed, the report claimed, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Shawl said that Sharif also needed to change his lifestyle, maintaining a healthy diet and incorporating regular exercise. He was “strongly advised to manage his stress to the maximum extent to avoid what happened during his imprisonment,” read the report.
‘Fake’ report
Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, in a video statement, alleged that the medical report submitted to the LHC was “fake,” and questioned how a doctor living in Washington had prepared a report about Sharif in London.
“Such medical reports make a mockery of the judicial system and laws,” he said and reiterated calls for the former prime minister to return “looted money” and remain in London for as long as he wished. “Sending such fake reports will not help,” he said and hoped the court would “take notice” of the report.
Sharif was allowed to leave Pakistan in November 2019 after submitting an undertaking that he would return to the country within four weeks, or as soon as he had been declared fit to travel back home. Initially, the government had sought indemnity bonds of Rs. 7.5 billion, but the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) had rejected this and sought the intervention of the Lahore High Court to remove the former prime minister’s name from the Exit Control List.
Since his exit, Sharif has remained in London, and has been declared a “proclaimed offender” over his failure to appear in various ongoing cases. The PTI government believes he is “healthy” and has violated his undertaking to not return to Pakistan. It has decided to approach the LHC to act against Sharif’s brother, Shahbaz, for violating the undertaking and not ensuring the former premier returns home as soon as he is medically fit enough to do so.