Punjab interim Health Minister Dr Javed Akram said on Wednesday that two men had been arrested in connection with the Avastin injection scam. The eye drug is allegedly responsible for causing vision loss in diabetic patients across the province. “No leniency will be shown to any suspect in the case,” he vowed.
Several diabetic patients in Lahore, Kasur and Jhang districts were administered Avastin injections to address retinal damage, but the doses led to severe infections. The issue first surfaced when several cases of the drug’s reaction were reported from the Kasur district. According to doctors, the patients developed a life-threatening disease, endophthalmitis, an inflammation of the inner coats of the eye, which led to loss of vision.
Official figures revealed that the purported contaminated drug severely affected the vision of 68 patients in the province since the scam surfaced. The Punjab government has slapped a ban on the eye drug for an indefinite period across the province, besides launching a portal to collect data on the patients affected by the drug and provide them with treatment.
A high-level inquiry was also under way to find out the prime factors leading to vision loss among patients administered the injection in Punjab. During a media talk on Wednesday, the provincial health minister told journalists that two culprits had been arrested in connection with the injection scam but didn’t give details of the suspects.
He said the incident was being probed from all angles and vowed to bring all elements involved in the scam to justice.
