Family claims matriarch died due to Lahore hospital's negligence, dubious coronavirus diagnosis

LONDON/LAHORE: A Pakistani hospital has been accused of coronavirus-related 'extortion' after a patient died in its COVID-19 wards and the deceased's family rejected the patient's diagnosis.

Iran Arif Butt, a British-Pakistani IT professional, has alleged that his mother died a day after Lahore's Surgimed Hospital moved her to a coronavirus ward instead of a regular intensive care unit (ICU) despite her polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests — a common test for coronavirus — returning negative.

Butt said his brothers had insisted that their mother, 62-year-old Asia Begum, be taken out of the coronavirus ward and shifted to a regular ICU but the hospital refused. The family alleges that the hospital also attempted to hide her test reports.

A day later, Asifa Begum passed away.

Hospital denies accusations

Surgimed Hospital denied the Butt family's accusations, with its director and lead pathologist Dr Zafar Iqbal claiming that Asia Begum's COVID-19 test came negative and he had blood samples to prove it.

The Lahore-based hospital's representative said: "Sometimes the virus moves on from the nose and throat into the bloodstream which is why it can’t be detected using a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test as it relies on a swab to collect viral RNA from inside the nose.

"Other signifiers such as high levels of Immunoglobulin M (IgM) and the fact that the patient’s symptoms were in line with those that the virus causes were reasons to believe that the patient had indeed contracted the virus," Dr Iqbal said.

He also strongly denied the family's claim of extortion, saying there was no truth to the allegation.

Rs1,000,000 for stay in hospital

Butt, Asia Begum's son, while talking to Geo News alleged that his mother was moved to the coronavirus ward as a "means to extort more money from the family, totalling about Rs1,000,000 for her stay" in the hospital.

"The hospital changed my mother’s name in the PCR test result for plausible deniability regarding the case," he further alleged.

The deceased had first visited Surgimed Hospital, a renowned medical facility in Lahore, a year earlier to undergo surgery, following which she returned every three months for routine check-ups.

Butt claimed that during one of these check-ups, the doctor advised the family that his mother's results were worrying and she should be admitted to the hospital for the required treatment. A week after she was moved to the facility, they were told that she had to be moved to the ICU.

A day after she was shifted to the ICU, Butt said his family was informed that their mother had tested positive for COVID-19.

Independent tests did not detect virus

The family, however, decided to get an independent PCR test done from a different laboratory, which allegedly did not detect the coronavirus in its results. Upon learning this, they demanded Surgimed Hospital show them the test it had conducted but the facility allegedly refused to hand over the report.

The family says they managed to get hold of the document despite Surgimed Hospital trying to hide the test results and found out that the virus had not been detected. Butt said they got yet another test done independently and the result once again revealed the virus was not detected.

Consequently, the Butt family insisted that their mother be moved out of the coronavirus ward and be treated as she was before being shifted. At the time, the doctor on duty reportedly agreed and asked the family not to involve the media or the authorities.

However, when the patient was being taken out of the coronavirus ward, the family noticed that she was now suffering from breathing problems — which, the family alleged, was due to the hospital’s negligence.