ISLAMABAD: Senator-elect Ishaq Dar has been suffering from left arm and chest pains resulting from a spinal issue in his neck and may require surgery if his condition does not improve within a month, the Supreme Court was informed on Monday.
The top court has summoned the former finance minister, who has been in London since October 2017 and was declared absconder by an accountability court in a corruption reference, on May 8 in a petition challenging his election to the Senate.
A medical report submitted by Dar’s counsel in the SC, which has been issued by the London Neurosurgery Partnership and dated April 26, states that Dar also has cardiac issues and had to undergo an emergency stent implant in the past.
The report signed off by Consultant Neurosurgeon Richard Gullan states that an MRI had shown ‘quite bad spondylitic change’ in Dar’s neck after he started experiencing ‘quite unpleasant left arm and chest pain symptoms’. “At this point in time, he is probably getting to the stage where one may need to consider surgical options more seriously,” the report says.
Doctors have recommended that the absconding PML-N leader undergo spinal physiotherapy for 6-8 weeks as a trial. If that does not improve his condition, surgery will be considered as the best option to make more room for the nerve roots in his cervical spine, the report added.
“We will keep a close eye on him [Dar] and plan to review him in about a month’s time,” Dr Gullan said. The report is silent about whether the former finance minister should avoid travelling or not.
Published in Daily Times, May 8th 2018.
