As many as eight persons lost their eyesight after cataract surgeries in a private hospital at Ongole. The eye surgeon, Dr. V. Amrithapani performed cataract surgeries on 18 patients at Amma Eye Hospital on May 22.
Following the surgery, when nine patients did not regain vision, doctors found infection and puss formation in the operated eye of the patients.
The victims, who hail from villages surrounding Ongole, were identified as P. Baiamma, 72, Annapurna, 50, T. Subratamma, 50, Govinda-mma, 45, Chennamma, 70, Anjaneyulu, 65, Chenakes-avalu, 60, Subba Rao, 69, and Venkateshwar Rao, 65.
Relatives of the victims alleged unhygienic conditions and poor facilities in the operation theatre as the cause of the infection and demanded action against the doctors and hospital.
Dr. Amrithapani told this newspaper that the infection was caused due to puss formation. He said that he had performed nearly 30,000 cataract surgeries in Prakasam, but had never encountered such a problem.
The patients were then shifted to Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital, Hyderabad, for further treatment on Friday and Saturday night. He hoped that the patients would regain their vision soon.
Medical superintendent of SDE Hospital, Dr. Upendra Karne, said, “The surgery was performed on Tuesday night. After complications arose, the patients, five women and four men, were treated in the hospital for two more days and finally sent to SDE Hospital. Currently, we are treating them but it seems unlikely that they will regain vision in the operated eye. It appears that proper sterilisation wasn’t done and the fluid used for the purpose was infected. The causative agent is the microorganism pseudom-onas.”
Dr Karne said that a three-member committee has been constituted to investigate the incident.