AP CM K Rosaiah directed the Nellore district administration to register a case against the Bollineni Eye Hospital management for the tragedy in which four persons lost their vision.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister K Rosaiah today directed the Nellore district administration to register a case against the Bollineni Eye Hospital management for the tragedy in which four persons lost their vision following a free cataract surgery.
The chief minister had a telephonic talk with the Nellore district collector K Ramgopal today and directed him to take immediate action against those responsible for the incident.
The state government has announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs50,000 each to the victims even as the hospital management announced that it would also pay compensation besides taking care of the medical expenses of the patients.
Following the chief minister's directive, the Nellore district collector held a meeting with district superintendent of police B Malla Reddy and joint collector Saurabh Gaur and ordered an inquiry into the episode.
Malla Reddy later said they were registering a case suo moto as none of the victims could lodge a formal complaint against the hospital management or doctors.
Collector Ramgopal said criminal action would be initiated against the hospital management as well as the doctors if human error is established while performing eye surgeries.
"We have ordered a high-level inquiry and based on its findings will take further action," Ramgopal said.
The hospital management has been asked not to conduct any surgeries till the completion of inquiry, he said.
A five-member team, led by the district blindness control officer Manjula has been sent to Shankara Netralaya in Chennai to talk to the victims and get more details related to the incident.
The equipment, medicines and consumables used in conducting eye tests and cataract surgeries at the free eye camp at Shramika Nagar and Gangapatnam on October 18 which eventually led to the blinding of poor patients have also been sent to a laboratory in Chennai for examination, official sources said.
As per a preliminary report obtained by the Nellore district administration, four persons lost sight while 12 others contracted infection in their eyes. Of these 12, eight are still under observation at the Shankara Netralaya, official sources said.
Bollineni Eye Hospital was established in Nellore six and a half years ago and has conducted about 40,000 surgeries ever since. But not a single case of failure or error has been reported all these years. This is the first instance wherein people suffered complications after a surgery leading to blindness for four persons, a senior official in Nellore told PTI over phone.
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