Botched Cataract Surgeries: Gujarat Medical Council suspends 3 doctors

Ahmedabad: Taking cognizance of botched cataract surgeries at an eye hospital and a medical college, the Gujarat Medical Council has recently suspended 3 doctors.

The state medical council has revoked the license of an ophthalmologist at Ramanand Eye Hospital for a year after investigating the case wherein 20 patients experienced blurred vision after post-cataract surgery, while two other doctors at Amreli Medical College have been suspended for six months and 3 months respectively following complaints of permanent and partial blindness after the surgery. The medical superintendent has been suspended for six months.

Case 1:Opthalmologist at Ramanand Eye Hospital

According to the TOI report, this case opened up with a complaint filed by Dr Nayan Jani, joint director (ophthalmology) at the health commissioner’s office, GMC on Jan 24 following complaints received from 20 patients from Mandal near Viramgam who experienced blurry vision after undergoing cataract surgery at Ramanand Eye Hospital in Jan 2024.

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Based on the complaint, the doctor was summoned to provide a statement. During the investigation of the case, the committee found that the protocols for the operation theatre were not maintained, and surgeries were carried out without qualified staff.

Suspending the ophthalmologist for a year, the council stated, “From the documents and submissions made before the committee, it appears that proper care was not taken regarding pre-operative and post-operative measures to prevent infection during the surgeries in question. This casual-negligent approach on the part of responsibility is not pardonable as it resulted in dire consequences for the patients and can be considered as actionable professional negligence.”

Case 2: Doctors at Amreli Medical College

In this case, the licences of a assistant professor, and a senior resident doctor, at Amreli Medical College, were suspended for six months and three months, respectively, in connection with botched-up surgeries in 2022 on 12 patients at the hospital. Moreover, the medical superintendent has been suspended for six months.

Out of the 12 patients, some claimed that they suffered from permanent blindness and the rest from partial blindness.

After going through the case, the committee said that the surgeons, nursing staff, the hospital infection control committee and its management failed to adhere to National and state guidelines which resulted in this negligence, reports TOI.

Cancelling the licenses of these two doctors, the council's resolution said, “National and state guidelines were not followed strictly either by the surgeons or by the hospital management, the hospital authority, the hospital infection control committee, and its nursing staff, which resulted in this unfortunate post-cataract surgery infection outbreak and caused permanent blindness to some and partial blindness to rest among 12 patients in question.”

In addition, the medical council committee also removed the medical superintendent of Amreli Medical College and asked the charity commissioner to initiate steps against the trust and trustees involved in the incident. Further, council instructed the Gujarat Nursing Council to take punitive action against four nursing staff members in Amreli in connection with the case.

Also read- Negligence: Gujarat Medical Council Suspends Doctor For Three Months