At least 16 people have reportedly suffered partial vision loss after a botched cataract surgery at a health camp organised at a charitable hospital in Ambala district of Haryana.
Most of the patients who were operated upon have now approached the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research or PGI in Chandigarh for further treatment. According to PTI sources, condition of patients' eyes is bad.
The incident took place in Mahesh Nagar area of Ambala district, where charitable society Sarv Kalyan Sewarth Samithi organised a camp for cataract operation on 24 November. The operation damaged the eyesight of 16 patients who had come at the camp.
The district authorities have said that the Samithi did not have clearance to perform the surgery and they organised the camp without permission, PTI reported.
"The society had no mandatory clearance from us to hold the camp. They had applied for permission in 2013, but it was denied by us as we first wanted to conduct an inspection of the hospital and get details of the surgeons who will conduct operations," Ambala Senior Medical Officer (SMO) Dr Vinod Kumar Gupta said.
"However, without permission they conducted the camp. Our team had raided the hospital but it is locked. Case had been registered in this connection by the police regarding negligence on the complaint of the SMO," he said.
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij has directed the health department to start an investigation into the incident.
