Blindness case from Buri Ram hospital

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Blindness case from buri ram hospital

"The Nation" : Published on January 14, 2010

As the controversy about blindness
caused by surgery at the Khon Kaen
Hospital continues, a similar
case surfaced yesterday involving
a state hospital in Buri Ram.

In a complaint lodged with the Thailanguage Kom Chad Luek newspaper, bicycle repairman Bunthak Phoobuatuang said he lost sight in his right eye after undergoing cataract surgery on October 1, unlike other patients who regained their sight just a few days after the operation.

The 52yearold said that he had kept three appointments with his ophthalmologist in October but it was in vain.

"The doctor never answered when I asked about when I would regain vision in my right eye.

"He just kept giving me eye drops and once said:
'Don't be sorry. This occurs in one out of a hundred operations. Do you want to continue treatment in Bangkok or Khon Kaen'?"

The man later visited ophthalmologists at the Khon Kaenbased Srinakarin Hospital three times, with the last visit on January 8. He added that a correctional surgery to "connect nerve fibres" in the right eye was scheduled for April 2.

The Buri Ram provincial health office chief, Somphong Jarungjittanusont, said an invesฌtigation was under way and would soon determine whether the Buri Ram case was similar to the severe infections that left 10 people blind after undergoing surgery at Khon Kaen Hospital.

Meanwhile, a doctor specialisฌing in medical investigation said there was just a 10percent chance of finding out the real cause behind Khon Kaen Hospital patients losing their sight.

Dr Somwang Danwijitchai, a senior member of the Royal College of Physicians of Thailand, said accurate results can only be expected if the investigation was conducted within a few days of the occurrence of the mishap.

"It is like a police case - if an investigation begins several days after a theft takes place, the chances of achieving accurate results are as slim as 10 per cent," he said.