A woman has died after a former security guard posed as a doctor and performed surgery on her at a hospital in Pakistan.
Shameema Begum, 80, died on Sunday after Muhammad Waheed Butt attempted to treat a wound on her back at a public hospital in Lahore two weeks ago, the Guardian reports.
An unnamed official from Lahore's Mayo Hospital says it's unclear what type of surgery the ex-security guard performed, but there was a qualified technician present.
"We can't keep up with what every doctor and what everyone is doing at all times. It's a large hospital," they said.
Patients are required to make a payment towards their treatment at Pakistan's public hospitals. Begum's family paid Butt for the operation and two home visits to dress her wound. It was only when her bleeding and pain worsened that her family returned to the hospital and discovered what happened.
An autopsy will be done to determine if her death was a result of complications from the surgery.
Lahore Police spokesperson Ali Safdar says the former guard has been charged and is in police custody.
"Butt had posed as a doctor and made home visits to other patients in the past also."
According to the Guardian, Mayo Hospital staff say Butt was fired two years ago for trying to extort money from patients.
A man was also arrested in May for posing as a doctor at Lahore General Hospital and extorting money from patients in the surgical ward. Then in 2016, it was revealed a woman who posed as a neurosurgeon was conducting operations for eight months alongside qualified doctors at Lahore Services Hospital.
