Supply of contaminated cancer-diagnostic injections: Supreme Court disposes of suo motu case

The Supreme Court on Thursday disposed of a suo motu case regarding supply of cancer-diagnostic injections allegedly contaminated with undesirable radionuclides.
The three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, comprising Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, resumed hearing of the suo motu notice on a news item published in Daily News on February 25 to the effect that the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH) has been supplying cancer diagnostic injections allegedly contaminated with undesirable radionuclides that could cause cancer instead of diagnosing.
During the course of proceedings, the Director General PINSTECH appeared before the bench and submitted a report. He said that the committee examined the relevant production facilities, testing labs, interviewed relevant scientists/technicians as well as went through the record of inspection/acceptance/rejection.
He said that the quality acceptance tiers are functioning at PINSTECH including the Quality Control Group under Incharge Production, Health Physics Laboratories and Quality Assurance Group under DG PINSTECH. He said that Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA), being an independent regularity authority and licensor, also conducts random testing which was verified by the Committee.
The production facility was installed/commissioned by renowned German scientists and highly qualified Pakistani scientists. The Mo-99 is thus produced according to the international quality standards, he added. He further elaborated that the feed-backs from various end-user hospitals have been received and confirmed that product is rechecked and qualified by the user and the disqualified product is not used.
The committee has satisfied itself that standard operating procedures for qualification and certifications were not violated and no evidence could be found of any pressure whatsoever from the high-ups on the analysts or technicians to alter the quality control results, the report stated. The court, in view of the submitted report, observed that the news item was not based on a correct appreciation of the relevant facts.