Medical tribunal grants relief to 2 suspended medics

• Both were among five trainees involved in recording ‘educational video’ during surgery at Lady Willingdon Hospital • Post-grad trainees allowed to appear in final exams ISLAMABAD: In two significant interim orders drawing a distinction between professional discipline and the pursuit of education, a medical tribunal on Tuesday allowed two postgraduate doctors, who face two-year suspension of their medical licences, to continue postgraduate training and appear in their forthcoming final examinations, while their appeals against disciplinary action remain pending.

The three-member tribunal, headed by retired Justice Safdar Saleem Shahid, granted identical interim relief to Dr Tayyaba Fatima Toor and Dr Muhammad Essa, suspending the operation of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council disciplinary order dated July 28, 2026, but only to the extent necessary to enable them to continue and complete their postgraduate academic and training programmes and appear in their final postgraduate examinations. The tribunal was careful, however, not to disturb the disciplinary findings at this stage or restore an unrestricted licence to practise medicine. It expressly clarified that the interim arrangement was provisional, subject to the final outcome of the appeals, and did not amount to an adjudication permitting the appellants to undertake independent clinical practice. The two doctors were among five postgraduate trainees whose cases attracted considerable attention following the circulation of what became known as the “ OT video leak scandal ” at Lahore’s Lady Willingdon Hospital. In April this year, the PMDC had publicly stated that five doctors — Dr Tayyaba Fatima Toor, Dr Zainab Tahir, Dr Muhammad Essa, Dr Ayesha Afzal and Dr Maham Amin — had appeared in preliminary…