Sixteen people who underwent cataract surgeries at a state-run hospital in Garden Reach have allegedly complained about loss of vision in the eye in which the procedure was done last week.

Doctors at the Garden Reach State General Hospital and Metiabruz Super Speciality Hospital, where the surgeries were done, called the patients earlier this week and asked them to report to the hospital.

When the patients arrived at the hospital, they were referred to the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology (RIO) at the Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, and told that this was done owing to infections in their eyes, relatives of four patients who are now admitted at Medical College and Hospital, said on Wednesday.

“My mother underwent the surgery in her left eye last Wednesday (June 26) and was discharged on Thursday. Since then she has been complaining about loss of vision in the eye. Also fluid has been leaking from the eye continuously since the surgery,” said Mukul Adhikary, whose 62-year-old mother Malati is now being treated at the Medical College.

“When she came to the hospital for a check-up on Monday, the doctors prescribed a drop and an ointment. On Tuesday, we received a call from the hospital asking us
to come to the hospital.”

“When we went to the hospital, the doctors there told us that there was an infection in my mother’s eye and referred her to the medical college,” he said.

Rizwana Parveen, 50, underwent a cataract surgery in her right eye at the Garden Reach hospital on Friday. She too complained about loss of vision since the surgery. “We took her to the emergency of SSKM Hospital on Sunday. The doctors there told us to visit the Garden Reach hospital first and then come back to SSKM if we did not feel satisfied with the treatment,” said Saba Afreen, Rizwana’s daughter.

On Monday morning, even before they went to the Garden Reach hospital, the family received a call from the hospital. “They asked us to take my mother to the hospital. At the hospital they told us my mother had an infection in the eye and referred her to the Medical College,” said Saba.

Malati as well as Rizwana underwent further “surgeries” after they arrived at the Medical College.

Narayan Swaroop Nigam, Bengal’s health secretary, said on Wednesday evening that 16 people have had similar problems. “Sixteen people are admitted at RIO and they are undergoing conservative treatment,” he said.

Siddhartha Niyogi, the state’s director of health services, said that samples of the substances used in the surgeries have been sent to a laboratory for tests to see if they were contaminated. “The results will arrive after a week,” Niyogi said.

It was not immediately clear whether any inquiry had been launched against the doctors at the Garden Reach hospital or if the department had taken any action against them.

An ophthalmologist with a private hospital said that a fluid — “BSS” — and a “visco-elastic device” used during cataract surgeries might have been contaminated resulting in the infection of the eyes. “Post-surgical infections might be a possible cause for the problems,” said the ophthalmologist who requested anonymity.