Two patients, in unrelated cases, who had gone to an eye hospital for eye treatment ended up losing their vision allegedly due to botched surgeries by the hospital. Two cases have been registered against Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital under section 338 IPC (causing grievous hurt by act endangering the life or personal safety of others). Both the complaints were filed at the Punjagutta Police Station in Hyderabad.
Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital is a chain of eye specialty hospitals in India and it has its headquarters at Chennai. They have more than 75 centres in India and some centres overseas as well. In Hyderabad also they have several branches.
According to K Kalavathi, one of the complainants, she visited Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital in Himayatnagar. The 65-year-old resident of Domalaguda was advised to undergo a cataract operation on her left eye. On September 30, the surgery was performed. Two days later, Kalavathi visited the hospital complaining of pain in her left eye and that she had partially lost her eyesight. She was informed that her eye had got infected and that she would have to undergo an eye cleaning procedure.
The patient was then taken to the hospital’s Punjagutta branch in the hospital’s vehicle. At the Punjagutta branch, a senior vitreoretinal surgeon performed a surgery after which she lost her eyesight.
The second complaint received on the same day was of a very similar case. Seventy-two-year-old D Padma, a resident of Gandhinagar visited the eye hospital’s Himayatnagar branch. She was advised to undergo surgery for both her eyes. On 26 September and then on 30 September, surgeries were carried on her right eye and then her left eye. However, from the next day, her vision in the left eye became blurry and gradually she lost her eyesight completely.
On October 2, when she visited the hospital, she was referred to the Punjagutta branch of the hospital to consult with the senior vitreoretinal surgeon. On visiting the branch, another surgery was carried out on her left eye without informing the patient, following which she lost her complete vision.
Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital has called the incident very unfortunate and said that they are monitoring the situation closely. In a statement released they said, “Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital is fully committed to providing world-class patient care, and our first responsibility is towards our patients. The recent incident is very unfortunate, and we are monitoring the situation closely. Our team of expert doctors and technicians ensures optimum outcomes for every surgical procedure, and remain committed to ensuring quality services to all our patients. In the meantime, we are cooperating fully with the local authorities.”
Based on the two complaints received, the Punjagutta police have registered a case and investigation is underway.