YDA protest shuts down PIC OPD

LAHORE: The Outpatient Department (OPD) at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) has been completely shut down due to a protest by the Young Doctors Association (YDA).

Heart patients are facing severe difficulties as they are being denied treatment following the closure.

The young doctors are protesting against the alleged incompetence of the hospital’s top management, accusing them of failing to address critical issues affecting poor patients.

The protesters have not only shut down OPDs and various wards of Lahore’s only cardiac hospital but have also refused to treat indoor patients.

The PIC is already struggling due to a severe shortage of life-saving medicines, doctors, nurses, and other staff, further deepening the crisis.

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The protesting doctors have warned of expanding their protest to other hospitals across Punjab if their demands are not met.

The protesting doctors allege that heart attack patients were being given injectable medicines instead of undergoing primary angioplasty.

A severe shortage of life-saving medicines has fuelled the doctors’ protest. The tension even escalated to a near-physical clash between two groups of doctors two days ago.

Doctors say they face anger from attendants of poor patients when they inform them about the unavailability of essential medicines and ask them to purchase them from private markets.

Meanwhile, PIC Medical Superintendent Dr. Shoaib Aslam refuted claims of a medicine shortage, stating that poor patients are receiving uninterrupted treatment and medication.

A heavy police contingent has been deployed at the hospital to maintain order due to the YDA protest and clsoure of PIC OPD.