The Weekly
Observer Volume 14 | Issue 13
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Villagers lose sight after free eye ops EXCLUSIVE Elizabeth Mani Agnivesh Harshan At least eight people who attended a rural eye camp have lost their sight amid allegations that student doctors conducted operations. The patients underwent surgery in April last year and within six months they had all lost the sight in their right eye. They were supposed to be treated for minor conditions like cataracts and glaucoma.A total of 22 people
since their program started in 2009, according to a spokesman. The joint director of the hospital responsible for the camps has promised a full investigation after the Weekly Observer revealed that at least a quarter of the patients treated at the camp had lost their sight. One patient, Venkatamma, 55, said, “The camp co-ordinator came to my house and after check up some dust particles were detected. They operated my eyes just for a mere dust particle. My right eye is blind after the operation."
Name: Maraka Age: 45 Lost sight: four months after the operation were treated at the one-day camp in April last year, according to a spokesman. It is not yet known if the remaining patients have suffered a similar fate. Kempegowda Institute of Medical Science organizes at least 100 similar eye camps every month and has treated over 5000 patients
is an internship program funded by the District Blindness Control Society for the final year medical students of Kempegowda Institute of Medical Science in Bangalore. "The students are supervised by a professional doc-
Name: Anjanappa Age: 60 Lost sight: six months after the operation
The camp, organized in April 2013, operated on 22 people from Devagiri village of which eight are now partially or completely blind. The camp was co-ordinated by final year students under the guidance of just one professional doctor. Camp co-ordinator, Dase Gowda P. R, said, “It
us. We did our best to treat them. If they have an issue they should have it checked up at the hospital.” But Lakshamanna, a gardener who went for surgery, rubbished the doctor's claim. "Before the operation I was able to work in the field without wearing glasses, now I can't do any work," he said. According to the Medical Council of India, "no person other than a doctor having qualification recognized by Medical Council of India and registered with Medical Council of India/State Medical Council (s) is allowed to practice
Name: Lakshmanna Age: 46 Lost sight: a few months after the operation
tor while they are operating. The program began in 2009 and since then we have operated on over 5,000 people.” Dr. Sowbhagya H.N, Head of the Department of Ophthalmology and Supervising doctor at the camp, said, “The patients were already visually impaired when they came to
medical equipments. “The private hospitals usually do not follow up on their patients after surgeries and capitalize on the government schemes for their own monetary benefits. It's not impossible, it can happen.” Patients from the village were contacted by the eye camp team one week after the operations and then again six weeks later. Dr. Ratna V C, joint director of Ophthalmology Department, said, “It is not possible to comment before any prior investigation as the camp was organized one year ago. There are
Name: Venkatamma Age: 55 Lost sight: a few months after the operation
modern system of medicine or surgery." Dr. Sylvia Karpagam, a public health doctor who works with marginalized communities, said: “I cannot be sure but they could have used expired or experimental drugs which would explain the gradual loss of vision. Or it could be that they did not sterilize the
over 100 such camps conducted every month across the state.” The patients, now victims, claim that they were doing well before the treatment in the camp and had only minor issues with their vision.
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