The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday suspended the medical officer of Unnao district after doctors at a primary healthcare centre conducted cataract surgeries on 32 patients on Monday night with just two torches providing light, NDTV reported.
“I asked the doctors why they operated with just torchlight,” said Rajendra Prasad, the suspended Chief Medical Officer of Unnao. “They said the power went out briefly, and that they had arranged for a generator.” Prasad said the doctors told him that they only operated in torchlight for a little while.
A video of the surgeries, shot on a mobile phone, shows the operation theatre had no electricity, according to the Hindustan Times. District authorities have started investigating why the doctors went ahead with surgeries when the centre had no electricity or basic facilities.
Reports said that an NGO called Jagdamba Sewa Samiti brought the patients to the centre from Kanpur for a free eye surgery.
After the surgery, they were made to lie on the floor without blankets. By the morning, when several patients complained of itching in their eyes, the centre sent them home without informing the district authorities.
“This is the height of negligence. No one will be spared,” said Unnao district magistrate Ravi Kumar N, who has sent a team to investigate the case. “Tough action will follow after the probe team submits its report on Tuesday evening,” Kumar added.
The officials are trying to locate the patients who were sent home to get further details.
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