The medical report, authored by Dr Fayaz Shawal and signed by David Lawrence, consultant cardiothoracic surgeon in London, has been submitted to Lahore High Court by Nawaz Sharif’s counsel. The report bars the patient from traveling home without undergoing ‘definitive medical treatment.’ It warns that otherwise the stress of living again in a solitary confinement as well as loss of a partner can further compromise his cardiac status.”His co-morbidities make him a ‘high risk’ candidate for health, respiratory failure, etc. should he contract Covid-19 infection.” The report recommends that Mr Sharif should remain on medical treatment in London under the care of doctors with multiple specialties. According to the report, these facilities have provided him the best of care so far without further acute coronary syndromes which he had sustained before his arrival to London.
The report also clarifies some of the points raised by Mr Sharif’s opponents like why he had not been hospitalized so far. This was not possible, it is suggested, on account of his co-morbidities which make him especially vulnerable to covid-19. Once the covid-19 pandemic is over, he has been advised to proceed with his coronary angiography and possible angioplasty or redo CABGS if intervention is not feasible. The former premier was placed on lifestyle changes to aid his recovery and was advised to have healthy diet and exercise regularly. Similarly, he was strongly advised to manage his stress to the maximum. This explains his presence in Hyde Park and other places.
The medical report will come under discussion in Lahore High Court which is the right forum for the government to contest it. Let the court take the final decision after listening to both sides as well as seeking media specialists’ advice. While dealing with its political opponents over the last four years the government has generally concentrated more on media trial than on preparing strong cases, with the result that it had to face humiliation in the courts, the latest examples being the acquittal of 16 persons including two PML(N) who were accused in the Saaf Paani reference, and the release of Jang-Geo Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman in a NAB case. Meanwhile the government would do well to rein in those in its ranks who indulge in hitting below the belt, for it encourages the other side to pay back in the same coin.
