Fifteen ‘blinded’ after India eye surgery
Newspaper says at least 15 people lost their eyesight after cataract surgeries at an ‘eye camp’ run by an NGO.
At least 15 people in India have lost their eyesight after undergoing cataract surgeries at an eye camp, The Indian Express newspaper has reported.
Those affected have lodged a complaint against the Guru Nanak Charitable Trust, the NGO running the camp, and the doctors who performed the operation, the Express reported.
Though the incident came to light on Thursday, the eye camp was held in Gurdaspur district of western Punjab state last month. Sixty-two people underwent the eyesight restorative surgery.
Amritsar Civil Surgeon Dr Rajiv Bhalla told the Express the surgeries were carried out “under unhygienic conditions” and the NGO had not obtained the required permission to hold the camp.
The story comes to light after at least 13 women died after botched sterilisation surgeries last month in central Chattisgarh state.
A total of 83 women, all under the age of 32, had the operations as part of the federal government’s free sterilisation campaign in Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh. But scores were later rushed in ambulances to private hospitals after falling ill.
Police detained a doctor and suspended several officials over the deaths. The director of the drug company that supplied the post-surgery medication was also arrested.