Imran Khan’s overnight hospital visit in Islamabad has prompted his party, PTI, to demand immediate access to him. According to Dawn, Khan was taken from Adiala Jail to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) during the night of November 10 to 11 for a medical check-up and eye follow-up. He was discharged at about 2:30am with instructions for further care and returned to jail.
A PIMS official told Dawn that Khan’s vital parameters were normal and that he was clinically stable. The ophthalmology team gave him an intravitreal anti-VEGF injection, the official said.
Khan is being treated for right central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), according to Al Jazeera. The condition came to light in late January, and he received his first injection in January.
PTI information secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said Khan’s family and personal doctors were not told about the hospital visit. The party learned of it from news reports, he said, as reported by Al Jazeera.
PTI said Khan’s family, personal doctors and legal team must be given immediate and unrestricted access to him. PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said the Supreme Court’s order of August 18, 2026, directing Khan’s transfer to Shifa International Hospital, has remained unimplemented for nearly three months, according to Dawn.
The overnight visit is the latest development in a dispute over Khan’s health care. Khan, 74, has been held since August 2023 on multiple corruption charges he denies and calls politically motivated. The government rejects that claim. According to The Hindu, all of Khan’s convictions except one have been suspended or overturned, with appeals pending.
In August, a medical board recommended daily walks, newspapers, television and more family contact for Khan, and the Supreme Court ordered his transfer to Shifa International Hospital. Instead, the government took him to PIMS and then back to jail, the Information Minister blamed PTI workers’ security, and the minister said Khan’s treatment was not neglected, according to the sources.
The sources give different reasons for the overnight visit. PIMS and a hospital official cited a medical check-up and follow-up eye treatment, including an injection. An unnamed official told The Hindu that Khan had blood pressure issues and was given treatment. Both accounts may be partly true, but the sources do not agree on the reason.
Several gaps remain. No named official has confirmed the blood pressure account, and The Hindu’s source was anonymous. The Hindu also reported a court order allowing Khan’s legal team and his wife to see him, but that report rests on the party’s claim, and no court document or government confirmation was provided. Only one unnamed official’s account of the overnight visit is in the sources.
Neither the jail administration, the government nor Shifa International Hospital has responded on the Supreme Court order or the overnight visit, beyond the minister’s general statement. The sources also give no details on the condition of Shah Mehmood Qureshi beyond that he remains in hospital in Lahore.
PTI continues to press for access to Khan and for implementation of the Supreme Court order. The sources give no date for a court hearing on access or on Khan’s appeals in the property case.
Sources
This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.