27 lose vision in Saharanpur botched cataract surgeries

Chief Medical Officer constitutes five-member inquiry committee to look into matter

At least 27 persons who were operated upon for cataract at the district hospital in Saharanpur of western Uttar Pradesh lost vision, allegedly due to botched surgeries.

After their family members created a ruckus on Tuesday, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Saharanpur Dr. Sanjeev Manglik has constituted a five-member inquiry committee to look into the matter. Some of the patients have been referred to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) hospital in Chandigarh and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi.

Shagun Bansal, a shopkeeper from Jiwala village of Saharanpur whose mother was operated upon December 2 at the Seth Baldev Das district hospital, said a few days after the operation, instead of relief, swelling and pus developed in her eyes. “When we approached Dr. S Lal, who conducted the operation, he tried to give us some money and asked us not to raise the issue,” he stated in his complaint to the CMO.