As many as 19 persons lost their vision caused by an infection after being operated upon at the Navjeevan Medicare LLP Hospital in Panipat on March 11. Fourteen of them have been admitted to the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research here, while the remaining are undergoing treatment in Panipat.
Ankur Gupta, who conducted the operations, said the patients were operated upon for cataract removal. Most of the victims were elderly people from Panipat and adjoining areas.
In a similar incident in Gurdaspur in Punjab last December, 37 patients lost their sight. It later emerged that the infection was probably caused by the use of one of the three solutions used in the surgery.
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij has constituted a committee to investigate the matter. It will be headed by Medical Superintendent, Panipat, S.K. Gupta.
Besides, a committee under the chairmanship of the SDM, Samalkha, has been constituted by the district administration.
Promising that strict action would be taken against the guilty, the Minister, who visited the patients at PGIMER, said the government would bear the expenses on the treatment of all the patients.
Mr. Vij said it would be ascertained whether the approval of the civil surgeon was taken for the operation. A preliminary report would be submitted at the earliest. Of the 19 patients, one was a regular patient of Navjeevan Medicare LLP.
Head of the Department of the eye wing of PGIMER, Amodh Gupta, said antibiotic Tazobactam Piperacillin was being given to the patients and the results would be known after 48 hours.
He said the infection was caused by Pseudomonas which was not visible to the naked eye. Of the 14 patients in PGI, six have been operated upon.
