As many as 18 people allegedly lost vision in one of their eyes after being operated at the Sawai Man Singh (SMS) hospital, the biggest government hospital in Rajasthan.
The affected patients were admitted to the SMS hospital last month and underwent a cataract operation. Most of them were operated under the Chiranjeevi health scheme, one of the pet projects of the Ashok Gehlot-led Rajasthan government.
However, after some patients complained of severe eye pain, they were asked to get themselves readmitted to the hospital. Despite the patients being made to undergo surgery again, in some cases, three times in more than two weeks, they were not able to regain their lost vision.
“Cannot see at all from one eye. Suffering from pain and watery eyes. The doctor said it’s an infection and will be fine slowly,” Chanda Devi, a patient, told India Today.
Talking to India Today, several of the patients’ relatives accused the medical staff of a lackadaisical attitude, of not being kept in the loop about their patient’s condition, and being told to take their patients home despite them being in pain.
“Operation happened on June 23. Was able to see but not clearly. But, now, I cannot see anything,” Ram Bhajan, a patient, said.
Meanwhile, the hospital authorities denied the accusations.
“There was no lapse on the doctor’s part. The microbiology investigation is going on right now. When it comes to the fore, then they will tell,” said Dr Pankaj Sharma, HOD, Opthalmology Department, SMS Hospital.
Source: India Today
