ISLAMABAD: The state-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) said on Friday that two specialists from Islamabad’s Shifa International Hospital participated in jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s court-ordered eye assessment, declining to reveal details of the clinical report to protect his privacy.
Khan’s health has become a major point of discussion after Pakistan’s top court ordered the government on Tuesday to shift him from Rawalpindi’s Adiala Prison to Shifa for medical examination and treatment within 48 hours. However, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar revealed on Friday that Khan had been taken to PIMS instead of Shifa owing to security reasons.
The move drew a sharp reaction from Khan’s party and family, who accused the government of violating the court’s specific orders of having Khan treated at the private medical hospital. In a statement issued by PIMS late Friday night, the state-run hospital said Khan was brought there for a medical examination and treatment on Thursday night.
“As part of the examination process, two specialists from Shifa International Hospital participated in the ophthalmological assessment,” PIMS said. “Other examinations were carried out by the concerned PIMS specialists.”
The former prime minister has previously received treatment at PIMS for central retinal vein occlusion in his right eye, a condition that can impair vision.
PIMS said that the results of the eye assessment were taken into account, alongside the findings of the investigations conducted at the hospital. PIMS added that a medical board comprising its doctors consolidated Khan’s fitness report.
“In keeping with patient privacy and the directions of the Honorable Supreme Court of Pakistan, PIMS will not disclose the confidential clinical contents of the medical report,” the hospital said.
The former prime minister’s sister Uzma Khan said in a press conference on Friday that doctors from PIMS administered an eye injection to her brother and conducted another test which showed a small hemorrhage remained.
Meanwhile, Khan’s personal physician Dr. Faisal Sultan said he was taken to Shifa Thursday night by police officials to meet Khan.
However, after waiting for around three hours, he left after the former premier did not arrive.
The decision to take Khan to PIMS rather than the hospital named by the Supreme Court is likely to raise questions over whether authorities fully complied with its directive, particularly since Sultan, whom the court had included on the medical board, was taken to a different hospital.
The government had already sought a review of the Supreme Court order, arguing that allowing a convicted prisoner treatment at a specified private hospital could encourage other inmates to seek similar relief. The court registrar’s office returned the petition on Thursday over filing deficiencies.
Pakistan’s government has rejected accusations by Khan’s family that his health has been neglected while he remains incarcerated at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Prison since 2023.
Khan served as Pakistan’s prime minister from 2018 until he was removed from office via a parliamentary vote in April 2022. He accuses the military of engineering his ouster in collusion with his political opponents, an allegation that both deny.
He remains one of the most popular leaders of the country and has been kept largely out of public view since his imprisonment and conviction in several legal cases. Khan denies any wrongdoing and says charges against him are politically motivated.
