ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — Former prime minister Imran Khan was taken from Adiala jail to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad overnight and given his sixth injection for an eye condition, the hospital said on Wednesday. He was back in jail within an hour.
In a statement, the PIMS administration said the PTI founder was brought from Central Jail Adiala in Rawalpindi during the night between November 10 and 11 for a medical check-up and follow-up treatment advised by his ophthalmologist. The eye team gave him an intravitreal anti-VEGF injection “after obtaining informed consent and adopting standard monitoring, precautionary measures and clinical protocols”.
The hospital said his vital signs were normal before, during and after the procedure and that he was “clinically stable”. He spent around 40 to 50 minutes at PIMS and was discharged at about 2:30am. He was moved under tight security in both directions.
What the injections treat
Khan has been receiving the injections in his right eye since January for central retinal vein occlusion, a blockage that restricts blood flow through the retina, diagnosed after he reported reduced vision. He had the first at PIMS on January 24. Further doses followed, including on April 28 and June 15, with doctors reporting improvement after each. One medical report recorded the vision in his right eye improving from 6/36 to 6/9.
The PTI wants him moved to Shifa
PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said he had learned of the hospital visit from media reports. He repeated the party’s demand that Khan be moved to Shifa International Hospital, as the Supreme Court ordered on August 18, and that a medical board including his personal physician and a family member be formed. “Regrettably, this order has remained unimplemented for nearly three months,” he wrote on X.
A day earlier, Khan’s sister Uzma Khan asked the Supreme Court for an early hearing of the case over his transfer. After the August order he was taken to PIMS instead and returned to jail after an examination, and the PTI filed a contempt petition.
Court orders lawyers’ meeting
The hospital visit came a day after the Islamabad High Court directed that lawyers Latif Khosa and Salman Safdar be allowed to meet Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, in Adiala jail. A bench of Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Muhammad Asif is hearing their appeals against their convictions in the £190 million case, in which an accountability court sentenced Khan to 14 years and Bushra Bibi to seven.
Safdar told the court that Khan had said his eyesight had improved but his blood pressure remained uncontrolled, and warned of a risk of brain haemorrhage. He said Bushra Bibi’s eyesight was also a serious concern and that she was due for another operation on November 15. The Islamabad advocate general told the court she was receiving treatment and presented records of the care provided.
