BENGALURU: A free medical check-up proved costly for a 55-year-old woman who lost vision in her right eye due to an infection. She alleged negligence by the doctor who conducted the surgery. The woman, who now has to undergo evisceration, has approached the police, seeking action against the doctor.
Fameeda Begum, a resident of Padarayanapura, fought for two months to get an FIR registered against the doctor of Eye Care Centre, a unit of Nayonika Eye Care Charitable Trust, with JJ Nagar police station.
In August 2018, Fameeda noticed a group of people standing in line in front of a building near her house. She learnt that there was a free eye check-up camp. She said, “I went to check my eyes as I had problems seeing far off objects. The doctors said I would have to undergo surgery, which they scheduled for the next week. A group of six women were taken in an SUV to Eye Care Centre in TC Palya.
A woman doctor conducted the surgery, put a lens on it and gave me a glass to cover it. They then dropped me home and gave me some drops and tablets.” Fameeda recalled, “The next day, they removed the bandage and asked me to continue with the medication. Within a week, my eye turned red and tears would flow from it all day. I went back to the camp and they took me to the centre. They told me they have washed my eye, and that I wouldn’t face any more problems. But the infection got worse.”
In January, the centre told her they can’t treat her anymore. Razia Sultana, Fameeda’s daughter, said, “I took my mother to Minto Eye Hospital. The doctors scolded us for coming to them after the infection had spread to all parts of her eye. Later, we approached Narayana Nethralaya, which told us that my mother had lost her vision, and that they cannot assure she will be cured. My mother didn’t respond to the treatment, and doctors then informed us that they would have to remove her right eye and replace it with a plastic one.”
Sultana said they have been fighting to get an FIR registered against the concerned doctors, but the JJ Nagar police threatened them instead, saying there would be a case against them if they insisted on taking this up. “We then approached human rights groups and Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Ravi D Channanavar. He, after verifying medical records, directed JJ Nagar police to register an FIR and take necessary action. A case has been registered under Section 338 of the IPC.” Sultana is Fameeda’s only daughter, and she and her husband have spent `4 lakh till date for Fameeda’s treatment.
Doctors turn tables on Fameeda
Doctors from Eye Care Centre visited the police on learning Fameeda had approached them. The doctors blamed Fameeda for rubbing her eyes right after the surgery, causing the infection herself. When TNIE contacted the clinic, Prashant SB, founder and chairman of Nayonika Eye Care Charitable Trust, asked us to wait till Monday for any information pertaining to the matter.