LAHORE: The Punjab health department has slapped a ban on the establishment of private pharmacies on the premises of the government hospitals across the province, directing the heads of all public healthcare facilities to ensure closure of illegal business outlets in their respective jurisdictions.
The action was proposed following the reports that many major public sector teaching hospitals have allowed private firms to operate pharmacies or medical stores on their premises in blatant violation of the set rules.
It was also reported that these private pharmacies were selling drugs of particular brands on higher prices, in connivance with the doctors, nurses and other concerned employees of the hospitals.
The issue surfaced when some private pharmacies at three major teaching hospitals in the provincial capital managed to get contracts to run their outlets, in connivance with the heads of the institutes, and then obtained stay orders from civil courts to prolong their businesses.
An official privy to the development says that the situation, particularly worsened at the Jinnah, Mayo and Services hospitals in Lahore, where the owners of the private pharmacies hired armed men to confront the administrations concerned.
About the Services and Mayo hospitals, the official says that a private pharmacy owner had secured a one-year contract with both institutes in 2021, allegedly in connivance with the then medical superintendents concerned. As the contract period ended, the new administrations of both institutes refused its further extension.
However, the owner of the pharmacies managed to obtain stay order from the civil courts, leaving the hospital administrations helpless.
The official says that Mayo Hospital’s management got the stay order vacated in 2023 by challenging it in the court through its legal teams.
He says the private pharmacy owner offered resistance and brought armed men to confront the hospital security guards, creating a tense environment in the hospitals.
However, the hospital administration got back the premises with the police assistance, the official says.
Later, as the new management took the hospital charge, the private pharmacy owner again occupied the premises and started business there.
The official says that tension again mounted in 2025, when the hospital management geared up efforts to close down the illegal outlet. But, the owner offered resistance by again deploying his armed men in the institute.
Recently, the official says, the pharmacy owner again obtained a stay order from another civil court, prompting the Mayo Hospital management to take up the matter with the health department high-ups.
He says that a high-profile meeting was called by the department, where the complete data pertaining to the private pharmacies operating within the government hospitals across the province was presented.
During the meeting, he says, it transpired that private pharmacies are operating in many government hospitals across Punjab on the basis of courts stay orders, to prolong their illegal businesses.
To resolve the issue, the health authorities sought opinion of law department and finally decided to slap a ban on all the private pharmacies operating at the state-run hospitals of the province, the official says.
It has also been decided that the health department will extend full support to the government hospitals in getting the stay orders vacated and closing down these illegal pharmacies, he adds.
“It has come to the notice of the health department that certain private pharmacies are operating within the premises of the public sector hospitals across the province working under the administrative control of the specialised healthcare and medical education department,” reads the health department’s notification.
It directs the heads of all government teaching and other hospitals to abandon the practice of awarding contracts to run private pharmacies on the premises of their institutes.
The department also issued strict directions to the heads to take necessary measures to close down these illegal private pharmacies.
Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2025
