The National Human Rights Commission on Friday took suo moto cognizance of botched cataract surgeries conducted in a government hospital in Hyderabad, and issued a notice to the Chief Secretary and DGP of Telangana.
Citing a news report that seven persons lost vision in one eye after the surgeries, the NHRC observed that the available details point towards a violation of the right to health of patients and asked the DGP to submit a detailed report in two weeks time.
The surgeries were conducted in government run Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital (SDEH) on July 30, the biggest state run eye hospital in Hyderabad. 13 people suffered from serious eye infection after the operation. According to reports, however, they were never informed of the complication.
The hospital authorities had passed the buck to Nagpur-based Haseeb Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd, claiming they had supplied them with the bottles of saline solution containing the deadly infection-causing superbug, Klebsiella. However, the Telangana Drugs Control Authority is yet to confirm this.
According to a report in the New Indian Express, seven patients have recovered from the post-operative complications while three are still being treated.