Medical board says Imran’s vision improving

ISLAMABAD:

The federal government’s constituted medical board reported an improvement in former prime minister Imran Khan’s right eye vision.

The medical board, comprising two senior ophthalmologists—Dr Nadeem Qureshi and Dr Arif—examined Imran Khan at Adiala Jail on Sunday.

According to their two-page report, unaided vision in Imran’s right eye was recorded at 6/24 (partial), while the left eye measured 6/9. With glasses, his vision improved to 6/9 (partial) in the right eye and 6/6 in the left.

The report stated that the anterior segment of both eyes was normal and the cornea was clear. It noted mild vitreous hemorrhage at the edge of the right eye and moderate retinal hemorrhage in all four quadrants.

Swelling in the macula of the right eye was subsiding, with macular thickness reduced from 550 to 350 microns.

The board outlined ongoing medication and treatment and recommended OCT angiography and fundus fluorescein angiography after completing anti-VEGF therapy. The board made no recommendation for Imran’s transfer to a hospital.

Following the medical assessment, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Allama Raja Nasir Abbas were briefed on Imran’s condition during a session at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) on February 15.

His personal physicians, Dr Asim Yousuf and Dr Khurram Mirza, were also informed via phone and reportedly expressed satisfaction with the ongoing treatment.

Separately, Minister for Law Azam Nazeer Tarar said Imran had normal 6/6 vision in one eye, while the other eye achieved approximately 70% vision with glasses.

Speaking at a lawyers’ event in Ferozewala, he said the specialist medical team expressed satisfaction with the treatment provided and briefed opposition leaders and Imran’s personal doctors. He added that there is nothing to worry about.

Likewise, Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan shared the medical reports’ contents with Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi.

Meanwhile, speaking to The Express Tribune on the fourth day of the opposition’s sit-in outside Parliament House, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said the protests would continue until their demands were met.

Gohar added that Imran’s health should not be treated as a political issue. “He should be given the best medical facilities. This concerns every Pakistani,” he said. The PTI chairman demanded that Imran be treated at a hospital suggested by his family and personal physician.

“His treatment should be under their supervision so the full facts can be established. How did this clot occur? How did his eye deteriorate so rapidly within three months?” Gohar questioned. He said the party was informed that doctors had visited Imran and that a report might have been filed.

“That report will be submitted to the Supreme Court. Once we review it, we will examine its contents,” he said, adding that the party wanted Imran’s neurologist to conduct a personal examination before the family could be satisfied.

However, a section within the PTI is reportedly unhappy with Barrister Gohar and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas for visiting PIMS to receive a briefing on Imran Khan’s health. They believe the party leadership should have informed the workers.

Former additional attorney general Tariq Mahmood Khokhar stated that the medical report confirms Imran Khan suffered a central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO).

“CRAO is a stroke of the eye—a blood clot blocks a blood vessel in the retina. The top medical institutions in the United States, including Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, and Johns Hopkins, affirm that CRAO is not an isolated ophthalmic disorder but a vascular emergency.

“CRAO is associated with a significantly increased risk of clots entering vital organs. A clot in the brain can cause a cerebral stroke; a clot in pulmonary circulation may result in pulmonary embolism; and a clot in the coronary arteries can cause myocardial infarction,” he said.

Khokhar maintained that these are life-threatening emergencies requiring immediate intervention. “Make no mistake: wittingly or not, the duly elected prime minister of Pakistan was subjected to, and continues to endure, potentially fatal conditions,” he added.

He further said that Imran Khan’s medical condition necessitates urgent systemic evaluation and treatment in an appropriate hospital setting.

“The reported onset of symptoms in October 2025 is clinically significant. Jail authorities were criminally reckless. They are known to act with impunity. An unelected government that exists merely by threat or use of force against its citizens does not hold anyone accountable.

“It chooses to see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil. The judiciary acquiesces to the executive and plays oblivious. The stage is set for a national tragedy of the most calamitous kind,” he claimed.

Former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry said recent medical reports indicate that Imran Khan has suffered severe vision loss in his right eye due to retinal occlusion. However, without the direct involvement of his family and personal physicians, he said, the findings remain questionable in the public eye.

He further stated that excluding independent doctors fuels suspicion that the government’s refusal to transfer Imran to a hospital may be politically motivated rather than medically justified, thereby undermining public trust in official reports.

Fawad also said following the 26th Constitutional Amendment, the judiciary has lost its standing, and approaching the Supreme Court in such matters has become more of a formality.

PTI lawyer Barrister Taimur Malik said there remains a clear trust deficit regarding Imran Khan’s eye treatment and overall health.

“The government needs to grant access to his personal physicians and family to ensure credibility and transparency in the treatment process. The Supreme Court can play an important role by directing the government to provide such access and to take any further necessary measures recommended by a neutral medical panel,” he added.