The daughter of a patient who passed away as a result of the medical negligence, professional misconduct, and malpractice of the hospital’s doctors has been given a directive by President Dr. Arif Alvi to the Islamabad Healthcare Regulatory Authority (IHRA) to recover Rs2.9 million from Shifa International Hospital Islamabad (SHIFA) and refund it.
The president also affirmed the imposition of a Rs. 900,000 fine on SHIFA due to the hospital’s shown administrative errors and malpractice.
He gave the instructions while rejecting an appeal IHRA had made against the Wafaqi Mohtasib’s (WM) ruling that the complainant had been treated unfairly because, in a previous case of a similar nature, IHRA had not only fined SHIFA but also given the hospital instructions to refund the money in lieu of medical bills.
Farrukh Naeem Tahir, the complainant, claimed that her mother, who had been diagnosed with COVID-19, had died as a result of the negligence of the doctors at SHIFA. She filed a complaint with the IHRA against the hospital, and the IHRA fined it Rs. 900,000 for negligence but did not ask the hospital to pay back the Rs. 2.979 million in medical expenses as required by Wafaqi Mohtasib.
She then submitted a review application, asking for the matter to be reopened and the original judgement to be reviewed, with instructions for IHRA to tell the hospital to pay the medical expense back. The Mohtasib granted her the directives, which IHRA challenged by submitting a submission to the President. IHRA’s argument was rejected by the president, who also mandated that the complainant receive their reimbursement within a week.
