Orissa High Court

Cuttack, April 22: The Orissa government, in an affidavit filed in Orissa High Court, has said the onus for compensation for loss of eyesight of persons after operation at the cataract surgical camp at Dharamgarh government hospital lies with the NGO which was allowed to conduct it.

The affidavit stated that one JMJ Grace Vision Netralaya (Sambalpur) was allowed to conduct cataract surgical camp at the sub-divisional hospital at Dharamgarh from September 16 to 22, 2010, with the condition to ensure complete incident-free camp with 100 per cent efficiency. Accordingly, the NGO operated on 1,210 persons with their own instruments, equipment and staff. However, the NGO had no staff there when the complicated cataract cases with post operation complications were detected by the hospital doctors in the last week of November, 2010, the affidavit stated.

“The onus / responsibility lies with the JMJ Grace Vision Netralaya (Sambalpur) to provide well qualified doctors, equipment and also to take care of the post operation follow up and as part of moral and overall responsibility the district healthcare administration through Rogi Kalyan Samiti Dharamgarh, chief district medical officer and his medical team extended all support of the eye camp. Hence the writ petition for grant of relief by the government is not liable to be entertained,” chief district medical officer (CDMO), Kalahandi, Malaya Kumar Behera contended in the affidavit.

Advocate and human rights activist Prabir Kumar Das filed a letter petition in the high court alleging that 16 persons had lost their eyesight due to negligence and indifference on part of the doctors and authorities at the camp. Compensation was sought for the persons who had lost eyesight.

Taking note of it, on April 6, the high court converted it into a PIL. “Having regard to the nature of seriousness of the post operational complicacies suffered by the 16 patients who have undergone such cataract operation in the aforesaid health camp, we direct the registry to register the petition as a PIL,” the two-judge bench of Chief Justice V. Gopal Gowda and Justice B.N. Mohapatra said.

While issuing notices to the chief district medical officer (CDMO), Kalahandi the high court had directed the Orissa State Legal Service Authority (OSLSA) member secretary to coordinate an inquiry by president of the District Legal Services Authority, Kalahandi and submit a report by April 18.

The Kalahandi CDMO, in his affidavit, said: “Jitendra Kumar Panda, assistant surgeon (ophthalmology) of the sub-divisional hospital, Dharamgarh, initially detected 26 numbers of complicated cataract cases during the period when the NGO staff were not there to follow up and brought those cases to the CDMO’s notice on November 27, 2010 and thereafter the CDMO, in due consultation with the Kalahandi collector, directed the NGO to shift the complicated cases to L.V. Prasad Eye Institute in Bhubaneswar.”

The cases were subsequently shifted to L.V. Prasad Eye Institute phase wise for super specialist intervention, the affidavit said.

In another development, the OSLSA member secretary has also submitted the inquiry report.