Chhattisgarh government has paid Rs 23 lakh as relief to 46 victims of a botched-up eye surgery done during a camp in Durg district of the state in 2011.
According to an official statement released today, on the persistence of NHRC, the Government of Chhattisgarh has paid Rs 50,000 each to the 46 victims of a botched-up eye surgery, in addition to the Rs 50,000 each paid earlier, as the Commission had found the amount insufficient.
The state government informed the Commission that three eye surgeons and other technical staff including two staff nurses were suspended and departmental action had been taken against them, according to the statement.
The Commission had taken cognisance of the issue on the basis of a media report in 2011 which said that 334 patients were operated upon at an eye camp organised by Indian Medical Association in Balod in Durg from September 21 to 31, 2011.
One person had died and 25 others lost vision after the surgery. Most of them were farmers, the statement said.
Also, 46 out of 93 patients operated upon on September 29, 2011, developed infection in their eyes due to bacteria present in the makeshift operation theater.
Government opthalmologists as well as a doctor from AIIMS, New Delhi, treated them at a cost of Rs 10,50,000. Two patients were operated for vitrectomy, however, there was no possibility of the remaining 44 patients regaining their eyesight.
Therefore, they were paid Rs 50,000 each as financial assistance by the government. Four persons who were operated upon for cataract had died subsequently but their deaths were not related to the infection caught during the operation.
The Commission observed that 46 patients were infected after the operation which clearly reflected gross negligence on the part of the concerned doctors and staff and Rs 50,000 given as financial assistance to the patients appeared insufficient.
It had directed the state government to pay an additional amount of Rs 50,000 to them and also asked to submit an action taken report against the guilty.
