Nawaz endured minor heart attack, says Haris

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The IHC on Saturday was told by lawyer Khawaja Haris that former premier Nawaz Sharif had suffered a minor heart attack last night and that his life is in danger. The court was hearing a petition filed by PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif today a plea to secure bail for Nawaz in the Al Azizia case. The hearing of the will be held at 4pm.
A two-member bench comprising IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani will hear the case. Shehbaz had appealed the IHC to grant bail to Nawaz in the Al Azizia case — in which the latter is sentenced to seven years in prison — on medical grounds earlier this week.
From Page 1A two-member bench of the IHC had heard the bail petition yesterday and after questioning Services Hospital Medical Superintendent (MS) Dr Saleem Cheema, who is part of the medical board treating Nawaz, the high court had adjourned hearing until Tuesday.
In the appeal filed today, Shehbaz urged the court to take up the bail plea today owing to Nawaz s extremely critical condition. It said that the plea, which was heard yesterday, did not mention that on the night of October 24, Nawaz had suffered an angina attack as a direct result of the medicine being administered to him to enhance his platelets . Yesterday, Nawaz had been granted bail in the ongoing Chaudhry Sugar Mills case by the Lahore High Court, where Shehbaz had filed a similar plea.
The former premier was rushed to the Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) earlier this week after his personal physician raised an alarm about his deteriorating health. On Tuesday, doctors at the hospital had termed Nawaz s condition as serious despite the transfusion of three mega units of platelets within hours of his admission.
According to the medical tests carried out on Tuesday, the platelet count of the former premier had dropped from 16,000 to a critical level of 2,000 when he was brought to hospital late on Monday night, prompting the medical board members to go for immediate transfusion of the platelets to save his life , one of the board members had said.
After a struggle of three days, a six-member medical board, headed by Services Hospital Principal Ayaz Mahmood, on Thursday diagnosed the reason for Nawaz s declining health.
It is acute immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), a bleeding disorder, in which the immune system destroys platelets, a board member had informed.
He said the treatment was given to the former prime minister in the light of his diagnosis. We are hopeful that his condition will improve in a few days, he added.