A day after 60 people lost their eyesight after botched cataract surgeries came to light, the Punjab government swung into action. The police have arrested the doctor, who allegedly performed the surgeries and a case has been registered against a private hospital and a Mathura-based NGO. Authorities have also detained Manjit Singh who organised the camp.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal directed Principal Secretary Health to conduct a probe into the incident. The State government has also announced a compensation of Rs. 1 lakh for the victims and ordered that such camps will need mandatory approval from Deputy Commissioner and Civil Surgeon.
Nearly 60 people, most of them from economically weaker sections, who turned up at a free cataract surgery camp organised by the Guru Nanak Foundation at Ghuman village in Gurdaspur lost their vision as the procedures were conducted under unhygienic conditions. On Friday Punjab Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jayani urged Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda to admit patients in government-run institutes. The Union Health Ministry is also flying in teams of specialists from the Dr. R.P Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, AIIMS and PGI, Chandigarh.
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Government officials said a majority of the victims were from Gurdaspur and 16 were from Amritsar. Those admitted in the ENT Hospital in Amritsar were also confirmed to have permanently lost their eyesight. Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar Ravi Bhagat said that a high-level enquiry has been initiated to identify the doctors who performed the procedures.
The matter came to light when Kisan Sangharsh Samiti and 16 patients from Amritsar approached the Deputy Commissioner to file complaints. The victims were referred to the Government Medical College and Hospital in Amritsar, where tests revealed that they had all suffered irreparable eye damage due to eye infection.