Three physicians from US arrive in Dhaka to treat Khaleda

A team of three specialist doctors from the United States arrived in Dhaka to treat BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, who is undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital in the capital.

They are Dr Hamid Rabb, medical director of the Kidney Transplant Program, Dr Christos Savvas Georgiades, director of Interventional Oncology, and James Peter Hamilton, director of Hepatology, at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

The three doctors reached Dhaka on Wednesday night, said BNP media cell member Shayrul Kabir Khan.

On September 22, Khaleda Zia was shifted to the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) from the cabin of Evercare Hospital after her condition worsened.

On August 10, she was admitted to the hospital for some medical tests.

She has been suffering from arthritis, diabetes, kidney, lung, and eye issues for a long time. She was diagnosed with Covid-19 and spent 81 days in hospital care in 2021.

She also experienced bleeding in the digestive tract and liver cirrhosis later in November.

Khaleda Zia was convicted in two graft cases and taken to jail in 2018. In April 2020, in light of the Covid pandemic, the government granted a request from her family for a conditional temporary release from jail for “humanitarian reasons”.

She has since stayed at her Gulshan home under the care of her personal doctors and has had limited interaction with others.

Her family petitioned the government several times for permission to take her abroad for medical treatment. The government repeatedly denied the request, claiming it is impossible under the current law that allows her to stay out of jail.

KH/SU