5 suffering from drug reaction after cataract surgery at Minto still critical

Bengaluru: One of the 14 patients under treatment for developing complications due to alleged drug reaction after undergoing cataract removal surgery last week at the government-run Minto Ophthalmic Hospital was discharged on Tuesday. The condition of five patients, however, remains serious.
All the 24 patients, who underwent surgery on July 9, developed complications.Two lab tests confirmed the presence of pseudomonas bacteria in the occugel medicine used to treat the patients. Ten patients had been discharged in the first few days after the surgery.
“Of the 13 patients still in hospital, eight patients have recovered well. The remaining five are suffering from severe drug reaction and we may have to conduct a repeat surgery, vitrectomy, to remove the gel material from their eyes. One of them is diabetic who has also developed multi-drug resistance,” hospital director Dr BL Sujatha Rathod said.
She said the report from PMSSY hospital has reconfirmed drug reaction due to pseudomonas. “On Monday, we got a similar report from Victoria Hospital’s microbiology lab. We’re now awaiting the report from Nimhans virology lab. We’ll also send the samples of the drugs and consumables used in the hospital’s operation theatre to the microbiology lab of Indian Institute of Science,” she added.
The staff at Minto are waiting for the report from the Karnataka State Drug Controller’s office which may take another 10-15 days. “The report from the drug controller’s lab is final,” said sources.
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Complaint filed
On Tuesday, a complaint was filed at VV Puram police station seeking investigation into the matter. T Narasimha Murthy, a city-based advocate and RTI activist, met the authorities and patients at the hospital before filing the compliant.