17 Patients Report Vision Loss After Cataract Surgery In Gujarat, Probe Ordered

As many as 17 people have complained of partial or complete loss of vision after undergoing cataract surgery at a trust-run hospital in Ahmedabad, prompting authorities to order an investigation.

Seventeen people have reported partial or complete loss of vision following cataract surgery at a trust-run hospital in Ahmedabad district, prompting authorities to launch an investigation, news agency PTI reported citing officials on Tuesday (January 16).

As per the report, the Gujarat Health and Family Welfare Department has established a nine-member expert committee to conduct an inquiry. Additionally, the eye hospital at Mandal village has been instructed to halt all cataract surgeries until further notice, according to Satish Makwana, Deputy Director (Health and Medical Services) for the Ahmedabad region, it added further. 

The issue came to light after five people who underwent surgery at Ramanand Eye Hospital in Mandal on January 10 were referred to the ophthalmology department at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital on Monday for treatment, the report said. 

"Twenty-nine persons had undergone cataract surgery at the Mandal hospital on January 10, and of these, 17 developed complications and complained of loss of vision. Five seriously affected patients were referred to Ahmedabad, while 12 were admitted to the same Ramanand Eye Hospital," Makwana was quoted as saying by PTI.

Expert doctors from Ahmedabad and Mandal-based hospitals have been enlisted to treat the affected patients and conduct a thorough inquiry, he stated, as per the report. 

The Mandal hospital had conducted nearly 100 cataract surgeries this month, with a screening camp set up at Viramgam town to assess all these patients for potential complications, Makwana mentioned.

According to the PTI report, during a media interaction at the Mandal hospital, two women among the 12 patients undergoing treatment stated that they had completely lost vision. Another woman mentioned that the hospital had charged each patient Rs 3,100 for the surgery.

Dr. Somesh Aggarwal of Ahmedabad Civil Hospital's M and J Institute Of Ophthalmology, part of the expert committee, also arrived at Mandal. "We are examining every patient to check the extent of damage and collecting samples of medicines they were given after the surgery," Aggarwal told PTI.