THE Punjab government on Sunday banned for two weeks the sale and usage of a locally manufactured injection, allegedly responsible for causing loss of vision in several patients in the province, until quality check results were obtained. On Saturday, the Punjab government formed a five-member committee to probe the loss of eyesight among patients after allegedly being administered locally manufactured injection “Avastin” at different hospitals in the province.
According to reports, diabetic patients in Lahore, Kasur and Jhang districts were administered Avastin injections to address retinal damage. However, these injections led to severe infections, ultimately resulting in the loss of eyesight of approximately 12 patients. Health Minister Dr Nadeem Jan said the injection had been withdrawn from the market and a case registered against the suppliers. The prompt action taken by the federal and provincial governments is laudable as it would prevent damage to more patients. However, what about those who lost their eyesight for no fault of their own and due to free for all medical practices. Is there any compensation for the permanent loss of eyesight? This is not the only case of its nature as scores of patients who underwent cataract operation in a famous eye hospital of Rawalpindi lost their eyesight permanently allegedly because of use of contaminated lenses. Manufacturing and import of substandard drugs and surgical goods is also a common practice and these are sold by chemists to unsuspecting innocent people. All this speaks volumes about lack of monitoring and regulatory mechanism and criminal connivance of the drug inspectors with those who are virtually killers of patients. A strong and sustained crackdown is needed in the health sector as well to save lives and health of the people.
