Islamabad: Punjab’s state health secretary has been sacked following the death of 109 heart patients due to the use of fake drugs in a leading Pakistani hospital, a media report said Sunday.
The government also axed Saturday night officials of the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) in Lahore, Dawn News reported.
The Lahore High Court will be asked to inquire into the deaths.
Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who also holds the health portfolio, ordered the removal of provincial health secretary Jahanzeb Khan and the institute’s chief executive Muhammad Azhar.
Sharif also ordered the suspension of two other officials.
The death toll in the scandalous use of spurious drugs to treat patients rose to 109 Saturday after three more people people.
The health department has confirmed only 85 deaths.
A health department spokesman said 37 patients affected by the drugs had recovered. (IANS)