24 people go blind after free eye surgery

24 people go blind after free eye surgery

07/12/2014

At least 24 people are blind in India after receiving a free eye surgery. The patients had undergone surgery for cataracts as part of a relief project. The authorities have started investigations.

Older and poor people go blind
In north India, according to a news agency dpa, at least 24 elderly and poor people are blind after free eye surgery. According to a high-ranking official of the city Amritsar announced on Friday that the authorities had initiated investigations. At least one doctor has already been arrested by the police. The cataract operations that took place in a medical camp of a charity in Punjab State had been carried out on November 4 in 130 over 50-year-old patients.

No permission for the operations
„Initial research shows that it can be due to the negligence of some doctors or the use of spoiled drugs“, said the local politician Abhinav Trikha. It has not been given permission for operations conducted by a medical aid project. The cases were only known when the victims their dressings decreased three weeks after the procedure and could not see. How a doctor of the clinic, which then consulted the patients, told the television station NDTV, some of them had severe eye infections. The doctor said that it is very unlikely that they will see again.

Millions of people without access to doctors
Thousands of people in the subcontinent, especially in rural areas, have cataracts every year in medical camps operated by health authorities and charities. The current case once again casts a negative light on the disastrous conditions of the Indian health care system. In India, millions of poor people have no access to doctors or health insurance and have to be treated in medical camps because of poor facilities and corruption in state hospitals. Another scandal occurred in November when 14 deaths after mass sterilization were reportedly due to rat poison.

Cataracts can lead to blindness if left untreated
In cataracts, which can lead to blindness if left untreated, there is a clouding of the eye lens. Mostly the disease starts in advanced age. Globally, it is one of the most common causes of blindness. One reason for this is that the actually simple treatment, especially in developing countries, often can not be carried out without further ado. According to the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG), around 800,000 corresponding operations are carried out each year in Germany. These could usually be done on an outpatient basis and only took 20 to 30 minutes. (Ad)