ISLAMABAD: The principal secretary to the prime minister (PM) on Thursday assured the Supreme Court that a summary about the registration of stent manufacturers will be approved as soon as it is received. The assurance was given to a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar which took up a case related to substandard stents being inserted into cardiac patients. On Januray 17th, the chief justice had taken notice of fraud in imbedding stents in heart patients on reports that government hospitals in Lahore are imbedding stents in heart patients even when they were not required, or charging patients up to Rs1,80,000 for each stent. During the course of the hearing, Additional Attorney General Waqar Rana informed the court that 98 stent manufacturers had been registered while a meeting would be held soon for pricing. He added that 2 applications for registration were deferred while 12 applications were rejected due to incomplete paperwork. The court was informed that a summary had been dispatched to the PM’s Office for approval by the Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) – a body which issues no objection certificates (NOC) to stent manufacturers. However, the counsel added that so far, no response had been given to the body regarding the issue. The court expressed its displeasure over the delay in the matter and summoned the principal secretary to the prime minister, who – after the court break – appeared before the bench. Fawad Hassan Fawad, principal secretary, denied the submission of the CAB and informed the court that no summary had so far been received, adding that the impression that the PM’s Office restrains files of ministries was wrong. He assured the court that as soon as the PM’s Office received files, it began working on them, adding that the PM had directed to resolve the matters relating to public importance, especially health. To this, the chief justice observed that such steps by the PM were appreciable, asserting that all the concerned stakeholders must resolve the matter of stents’ registration. Fawad further informed after the media reports that the PM’s Office spoke to the Ministry of Science and Technology regarding this issue. They further informed the office that a company named NESCOM was working on the matter. The PM then ordered a release of the funds in the current fiscal year for the purpose. The chief Justice directed the officials to approve the summary within 10 days and adjourned the hearing till March 16th.