Taking notice of botched cataract surgeries at an eye hospital and a medical college, the Gujarat Medical Council (GMC) has recently suspended three doctors.
The state medical council has canceled the license of an ophthalmologist at Ramanand Eye Hospital for a year after investigating a case where 20 patients experienced blurred vision after cataract surgery. Two other doctors at Amreli Medical College have been suspended for six months and three months, respectively, after complaints of permanent and partial blindness after the surgery. Additionally, the medical superintendent has been suspended for six months.
This case was opened on January 24 with a complaint filed by Dr. Nayan Jani, who is the joint director (ophthalmology) at the health commissioner’s office, GMC, after receiving complaints from 20 patients from Mandal near Viramgam. Those patients experienced blurry vision after undergoing cataract surgery at Ramanand Eye Hospital in January 2024.
Dr. Jaimin Pandya (ophthalmologist) was summoned to provide a statement based on the complaint. While investigating the matter, the committee found that the protocols for the operation theaters were not maintained and surgeries were carried out without qualified staff.
While suspending the ophthalmologist for a year, the GMC mentioned, “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 actionable professional negligence.”
In connection with botched-up surgeries in 2022 on 12 patients at the Amreli Medical College, the license of Dr. Pooja Parikh, an assistant professor, was suspended for six months, and that of senior resident doctor Dr. Ankita Madhvani, for three months. Although Dr. R. M. Jitia, the medical superintendent, has been suspended for six months,
Among the 12 patients, some claimed that they suffered from permanent blindness and remained with partial blindness.
While canceling the licenses of two doctors, the GMC stated, “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 the 12 patients in question.”
Additionally, GMC asked the charity commissioner to initiate steps against the trust and trustees involved in the incident. The council also instructed the Gujarat Nursing Council to take punitive action against four nursing staff members in Amreli in connection with the case.
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Komal Bhoi/MSM)
