PESHAWAR: The Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) has ordered an inquiry into the purchase of a cardiac stent through an allegedly unapproved vendor and subsequently directed the probe committee to examine a supplier’s bribery allegation.
Official documents available with The News show that the HMC Hospital Director constituted an inquiry committee on August 21 this year to investigate the procurement of a stent from an unapproved supplier.
The committee was tasked with determining whether the procurement complied with KPPRA laws and rules, the MTI Act, Board of Governors (BoG) decisions and approved institutional procurement procedures, besides identifying any financial, administrative or procedural irregularities and fixing responsibility for negligence or bypassing the rules.
The committee was given seven days to submit its report, but it had not submitted it till the filing of this report.The matter took a more serious turn three days later when the Hospital Director directed the committee to incorporate into the ongoing inquiry a bribery complaint submitted by a cathlab supplier on August 13, 2026.
The hospital director directed the committee to investigate the allegation and examine the validity, timing and intent behind technical observations allegedly placed on the supplier’s products and subsequent bills. The cash-demand allegation remains unproven and is now part of the formal inquiry.
It was alleged that the stent being used or proposed for use at HMC did not have approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).The source claimed that the process was subsequently stopped and efforts were made to return to the other arrangement.
Sources told The News that the cathlab had remained effectively non-functional for months because of shortages of essential consumables, particularly cardiac stents, and claimed that no angiography or angioplasty procedures had been performed at the facility for around two months.
They said doctors had been forced to refer patients requiring cardiac intervention to other hospitals, while the cardiology ward, previously crowded with patients waiting for treatment, had remained effectively closed for several days.
When contacted for their version, Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) Hospital Director Col (Retd) Dr Gulzar told The News that the stents in question had been selected in 2025 and were available in different sizes and types. He said that at the time of selection, a committee comprising four cardiologists was involved in selecting the stents.
When asked about the presence of two individuals in the inquiry who had allegedly been accused in the Fair Price Inquiry, Dr Gulzar said that the inquiry report was still missing and that, in his view, there was no substance to the allegations contained in it.
“I will appoint another committee with other members to thoroughly investigate the issue. We will ensure that patients are given the best available services and quality coronary stents at HMC,” the HD said.
Dr Gulzar Khan said that he had stopped the new tender that selected non-FDA-approved stents.“We have decided to purchase only FDA-approved stents for HMC. Also, we will order quite a large number of stents for six months or more, which will help us get stents at a reasonable price,” Dr Gulzar argued.
Similarly, Cardiology Department Chairman Dr Shah Sawar told The News that stents for the hospital were procured through a tendering process in which different bidders submitted their offers. He explained that the tender in question was based on a single-envelope system.
According to him, the tender comprised two categories of stents: FDA-approved stents and CMR-approved stents. He said the tender was a single-envelope process, under which no separate technical evaluation was carried out. Instead, once the bids were opened, the financial offers were considered and the stent with the lowest quoted price was purchased.
