17 patients 'suffer blindness' after undergoing cataract surgery in Gujarat
AHMEDABAD: 17 patients have reported experiencing blindness after undergoing cataract surgery in Viram Gam village of Gujarat. Serious accusations of malpractice have been levelled against the surgeons working at a privately operated hospital.
Five patients have been affected by this issue moved to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital to receive medical treatment.
Ramanand Eye Hospital, owned by the Seva Niketan Trust in Mandal taluka of Gujarat's Ahmedabad district, operated on 28 patients on January 10, with 17 developing low/blurred vision within a few days of the procedure and several losing their vision completely.
The patients, mostly old-aged, developed infection post cataract operation. According to the victim's family, this occurred as a result of the hospital doctor's gross negligence.
Solanki Govind who accused the hospital's doctors said, "We went to Ramanand Eye Hospital on the 10th for surgery of my wife's cataract. In the evening, the doctor allowed us to go home, and my wife was fine for two days, but on the third day, she lost her vision completely."
“I contacted the hospital's doctors, and they prescribed eye drops, but the drops did not make any difference. So on Monday, we admitted my wife to the same hospital, and today is Tuesday, but there is no difference," he added
With so many people losing their eyesight, the Gujarat government had to take fast action and appoint a nine-member team to investigate the incident.
Regional Deputy Director of Health for the Ahmedabad Region, Dr. Satishbhai Makwana said, “Five people with critical eye difficulties have been transferred to Ahmedabad Hospital, while around 12 people with lesser problems have been kept at the hospital. All patients are now being observed.”
“The government has formed an expert team to investigate the entire situation, consisting of nine people, including officers and doctors. Aside from that, this hospital performed 103 procedures between January 1 and January 10, and all those patients were screened in the presence of professional doctors at the government hospital," he added
However, the hospital denied any carelessness during the operation.
Narayan Dalwadi, the hospital's Vice President of Operations, told the media, "This organization has been running this hospital for the previous 40 years, and over one lakh operations have been performed, but there has never been a complaint. Perhaps there was a virus-related effect, and the situation is currently being investigated.”
This is not the first incident in Gujarat, over 25 patients underwent cataract surgery at the government-run Shantabaa hospital in the first week of December 2022. Over a dozen of them reported blurred or lost vision a few days later.
BY Dilip Singh Kshatriya