SC seeks reply over contaminated injections used for diagnosing cancer

02 Feb, 2016

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Federation and Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) directing them to submit detailed reports production of contaminated injections used for cancer diagnosing.

The court also directed the petitioner to provide application copies to the respondents in the case.

Thee three-bench SC bench, consisting of acting Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rahman and Justice Tariq Parvez, heard the case filed by Muhammad Riaz Pasha, a scientist serving as an adviser in the PAEC.

The petitioner invited the court's attention to the supply of contaminated diagnostic injections, containing unsuitable radionuclide, which can even cause cancer through prolonged exposure.

During the course of proceedings, the petitioner told the court that about 70,000 people had died due to the sub-standard injections. The death ratio of cancer patients was increasing due to the low standard injections, which should be banned, he pleaded.

He said that radionuclides, or radio isotopes, were inherently unstable particles that contained excess nuclear energy and those with suitably short half-lives were used in medicine for diagnostic purposes.

The bench after short hearing adjourned the case for an indefinite period.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2016

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