Pakistan hospital discharges Imran Khan after eye treatment

Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan returned to Adiala Jail after an overnight eye examination and injection at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad. The government hospital said he was clinically stable, with normal vital signs and a normal general physical examination, when it discharged him at about 02:30 Pakistan time on 11 November (01:30 Yerevan time).

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party demands immediate and unrestricted access for his family, personal doctors and legal team. The visit follows an August order by Pakistan’s Supreme Court that Khan be moved to a private hospital of his choice in Islamabad.

Khan served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022 and has been imprisoned since August 2023 on multiple corruption charges. He denies the charges and says they are politically motivated; the government rejects that allegation.

Eye treatment and access

Khan was diagnosed with central retinal vein occlusion after reporting reduced vision. The condition is a blockage of the retina’s central vein that can damage vision. He has received a series of intravitreal injections into his right eye, starting in January. PIMS said an eye specialist recommended the latest injection, an anti-VEGF drug used to treat the condition.

PTI information secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram told Al Jazeera that Khan’s family and personal doctors were not told of the visit and that the party learned about it from news reports. He said no family member, party representative or personal physician was at the hospital.

PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan said the Supreme Court’s August 18 directions called for Khan’s transfer to Shifa International Hospital and a medical board including his personal physician and a family member. He said the order remained unimplemented and called for examinations, tests and treatment at Shifa.

At a November 10 hearing, Khan’s lawyer Salman Safdar said Khan had told him his eyesight had improved but that his blood pressure remained a concern. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said Khan was receiving the medical care he needed and that his treatment was not being neglected.

Follow-up and legal access

PIMS said it discharged Khan with instructions for further care and follow-up. On 10 November, the Islamabad High Court directed that Safdar and fellow lawyer Latif Khosa be allowed to meet Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, in prison as they appeal their convictions in a property case. The attorney general said meetings could be arranged if the lawyers assured the court that arguments in the appeals would begin at the next hearing.

Khosa told the court that his repeated requests to meet Khan had been denied. Safdar said his previous meeting had allowed him to receive instructions but was insufficient, and he requested another.