Report on inquiry into Dr Furqan’s death due today

The report of an inquiry ordered by the Sindh chief minister to probe the death of Dr Furqan-ul-Haq, a former physician of the Karachi Institute of Heart Diseases, who had died of the coronavirus on Sunday, would be available by Wednesday (today).

This was stated by provincial law and environment adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab while speaking at a press conference at the Sindh Assembly building on Tuesday. Earlier, the Sindh government had taken serious notice of the tragic death of Dr Furqan and formed a probe committee.

A notification, issued by government in this regard on Tuesday, said that with the approval of the competent authority, a committee had been constituted to investigate the unfortunate incident of the death of Dr Furqan, an ex-radiologist of the Karachi Institute of Heart Disease.

The committee consists of three members: Fayyaz Ahmed Abbasi, special secretary of the health department as chairman, and Prof Dr Amjad Siraj, principal of the Dow Medical College, Karachi, and Dr Sikander Memon as members.

The committee has to enquire into the circumstances which caused the doctor’s death, and whether SOPs for proper isolation, referral and telemedicine were properly observed or otherwise. The committee is required to submit its report within 24 hours.

On Monday, Barrister Wahab had said that apparently there was no truth in the news report that Dr Furqan had passed away due to the unavailability of ventilators in any of the city’s hospitals.

In his message on Twitter, the adviser, who also acts as the spokesman for the Sindh government, had said the chief minister had ordered inquiry into the passing away of Dr Furqan. On Tuesday, the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation issued a statement clarifying that the institute had carried out an inquiry into the death of Dr Furqan. A spokesperson for the hospital claimed that there no record had been found of the doctor being brought to the emergency ward of the institute. "All paramedics on duty were asked to clarify the matter."