Three minor siblings lose life to quackery

MULTAN: The third and last child of an ill-fated family lost his life to quackery on Saturday, two days after his elder brother and sister had died at the Nishtar Hospital, where they were admitted for treatment after their condition became critical when they took medicines given a homeopath.

The three children of a kiln worker, Khadim Hussein, 42, started dying one after the other from Friday after taking medicines prescribed by a quack, who claimed to be a homeopath, licensed by the Punjab Healthcare Commission. Muneeb Hussein, 5, died after his elder brother Danish Hussein 9, and sister Tahira, 7, had lost their lives at the hospital, fighting harmful side-effects of homeopathic medicines.

Khadim Hussein, father of the children, had taken them to a homeopath in Muzaffarabad for the treatment of cough. A family member, Muhammad Akbar, told The News that the children started vomiting after taking the medicines. Their father called Rescue 1122 to take them to the Nishtar Hospital. However, Tahira died on the way while Danish breathed his last at the hospital emergency.

Muzaffarabad police said a case had been registered. The father alleged the children had died after taking medicines from Muhammad Salim, a registered homeopath. He was arrested and his “clinic” was sealed after Chief Executive Officer Health Shoaibur Rehman took notice of the incident.

Talking to journalists, PMA President Prof Dr Masood Haraj said that the Punjab Healthcare Commission was responsible for the deaths. “The commission issued a licence to a quack, which claimed the lives of the children,” he charged, adding that a number of quacks were practicing in Multan and demanded action against them to save lives.