Punjab Health Department has constituted a high level committee of senior clinicians and pharmacologists headed by Prof. Muhammad Azhar, Chief Executive PIC to investigate the causes of recent report of different patients coming to hospitals with sign of bleeding from multiple sites.
An official of Health Department Punjab (HDP) said that there were reports patients coming from various hospitals with signs of bleeding from multiple sites. During their stay in the hospital, investigations revealed that they were suffering from bone marrow suppression, which caused severe reduction of white cell counts and platelets in most of these patients.
He further said that nearly all of them had a history of cardiac ailments and were taking medications related to their heart disease; almost all of them were getting their medication from Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Lahore.
The official said that in order to investigate the reasons of bone marrow suppression and associated bleeding, a committee of clinicians was constituted. He said that their preliminary findings point towards an adverse reaction to one of the cardiac medication. He said in-depth analysis of these preliminary findings is required before the exact cause of this ailment can be verified.
He said that a high level committee of senior clinicians and pharmacologists headed by Prof. Muhammad Azhar, Chief Executive PIC, has been constituted to review the situations, the other members of the committee included Prof. Faisal Masood and two professors of pharmacology. The committee will submit its finding report to the Secretary Health within 48 hours. In the meantime, to safeguard the patients' health, PIC authorities have stopped issuing all the suspect medications to the patients, he added.