17-year-old ‘loses vision’ after sinus surgery, probe on
The family of a 17-year-old boy on Tuesday complained to the Ghaziabad police and also to the chief medical officer (CMO) that he allegedly lost vision in his left eye following a sinus surgery at Max Hospital in Vaishali.
The hospital has said their team of specialists is further evaluating the case and also alleged that the relatives of the patients created a ruckus at the hospital, causing inconvenience to other patients.
Police have said the matter will be inquired into by a panel of doctors assigned by the CMO and further action will depend on the panel’s report.
According to the boy’s family, he was admitted to the hospital on Monday morning and he underwent a sinus surgery. The boy recently cleared his Class 12 examinations with 90% marks and is the son of a businessman residing in Shahdara, Delhi.
“A while after his surgery, he complained that there is no vision in his left eye. The doctors hurriedly took him again to the OT and brought him out after 2-3 hours. We don’t know what they did the second time. His vision could not be restored and he told us that he cannot even move his eyelids. We complained to the doctors and they told us late night that he may not be able get his vision back,” said Shubham Gupta, boy’s cousin.
He said on Tuesday, when the family along with several relatives reached the hospital and tried to talk to doctors, they allegedly refused to speak on the boy’s condition.
“We repeatedly tried to talk to the doctors but they did not respond to us. None of our family members resorted to violence; but we insisted that someone should tell us what had happened with our patient. In the meantime, someone called up the police. We insisted that the hospital should prepare a case summary and it was given to us about three hours later. We later took him to different hospitals in Delhi for treatment as loss of eye vision could jeopardise his career and job prospects as well,” Gupta said.
He said he gave a complaint to the police and also approached the office of Ghaziabad chief medical officer (CMO). “The family of the patient were protesting at the hospital. We will forward their complaint to the office of CMO and the matter will be inquired into by a panel of doctors assigned by the CMO,” said Gyanendra Kumar Singh, superintendent of police (city 2).
CMO Dr Bhavtosh Shankhdhar confirmed that he
has directed for an inquiry into the matter.
“The family members of the boy gave us their complaint about the loss of vision suffered by their patient. I have directed a panel of doctors to take up the inquiry and submit their report within a couple of days,” Dr Shankhdhar said.
The hospital on Tuesday issued a written statement.
“A 17-year-old patient underwent a functional endoscopic sinus surgery (Fess) at Max Hospital, Vaishali, yesterday morning. The patient needed surgery as he had severe blockages in the sinuses. The surgery was uneventful. Later in the day, the patient complained of loss of vision in the left eye. A multidisciplinary team involving ophthalmologists and ENT surgeons investigated and re-explored the case. The patient appears to have suffered a rare condition following the Fess surgery involving the optic nerve. Our team of specialists is further evaluating the case,” the statement read.
The hospital in the statement also alleged that the relatives of the patients created a ruckus at the hospital, causing inconvenience to other patients.
“We had to request the police to help us restore order,” said the hospital release said.
The family of the boy gave us their complaint. I have directed a panel of doctors to take up the inquiry and submit their report DR SHANKHDHAR, chief medical officer, Ghaziabad