Investigations into the botched cataract surgeries that led to a large number of people losing their eyesight in Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts has now revealed that the accused surgeon, Vivek Arora, performed a record 130 surgeries over a period of three days from October 31 to November 4.
Senior district officials said 31 of the patients have been traced so far and a team has been sent to Mathura to get the contact details of the remaining patients from the organisers.
While most of the patients have suffered irreparable vision loss due to conduct of the operations in unhygienic conditions, efforts are being made to save those whose vision can still be restored. Teams of eye specialists from AIIMS-Delhi and PGI-Chandigarh visited the 31 patients at ENT Hospital in Amritsar on Saturday.
Principal Secretary (Health) Vinnie Mahajan, who is heading the high-level probe, told The Hindu that no patient has gone completely blind as cataract surgery is performed only on one eye at a time. For about a dozen patients, vision in the operated eyes can be restored, she said.
Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar, Ravi Bhagat, said a team has been sent to Mathura to get the records of patients from the S.K. Netra Chikitsalaya, which had organised the camp. Deputy Commissioner of Gurdaspur, Abhinav Trikha, who had got the case registered at Ghuman police station, said 130 patients were operated upon by Dr. Arora over three days — October 31, November 3 and November 4.
Paro, one of the patients, said when she complained of pain following the surgery, she was only given a cotton ball to place on her eyes.
In his defence, Dr. Arora of Vidya Eye Care Centre, Jalandhar, claimed that all surgeries had gone off well. He charged that only those patients who made the mistake of rubbing their eyes after the surgery had suffered. This led to infection in their eyes and subsequent loss of vision, he said.
