Last year, reports stated that the eyesight of a group of patients who underwent cataract eye surgeries at the Nuwara Eliya District General Hospital has been weakened due to the presence of germs in a medicine imported from India, sent shockwaves around the island, and its impact reverberates to date with allegations levelled recently that nearly 70 victims of the tragedy are yet to receive adequate compensation.
This tragedy, one of many that is largely forgotten by the populace and polity, remains another issue about governance, regulatory, and operational failures that happen in Sri Lanka, that are often swept away with the tides of time.
At the time of the tragedy, the then Health Minister stated that Sri Lanka has requested the company that exported Prednisolone eye drops to the island, to grant compensation to the patients who got impaired by the use of it. The issues were reportedly caused by contamination with the bacteria Burkholderia cepacia, leading to the said eight patients losing their vision completely. Former Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella, now remanded over another pharmaceutical scam said that they have requested the Indian company in question to grant compensation to the patients who got impaired by the use of Prednisolone. “The Ministry has informed the said Indian company regarding the eye drop batch-related failure, but we can’t say the timeframe as to when we will get a response,” Rambukwella said, adding that “This medicine is registered under the National Medicines Regulatory Authority, but, sometimes, quality failures occur.” However, earlier (April 2023), the Ministry had stated that if there is any wrongdoing regarding the release of a bacterial-compromised batch of eye drop medication that caused multiple patients to have impaired eyesight after use at eye clinics in public hospitals, the Ministry would offer compensation to the affected.
Yesterday (28) Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Parliamentarian, Wasantha Yapabandara claimed that the Government has not yet provided any compensation to patients who developed serious complications after being administered Prednisolone Acetate eye drops last year. Yapabandara recently accompanied three patients, who permanently lost their vision due to the said eye drops, to file lawsuits against the former Minister of Health Rambukwella and several others, seeking Rs. 300 million in compensation.
Speaking to The Daily Morning, Yapabandara claimed that 70 patients have suffered various complications due to the eye drop in question, including eight who have lost their vision permanently. He accused the Government of having failed to provide any compensation, despite more than a year having passed since the incidents. Attempts made by The Daily Morning to reach the current Minister of Health Dr Ramesh Pathirana and the Ministry Secretary regarding the allegation, bore no fruit. Both were not reachable.
"Many of these patients have had to spend Rs. 30,000-40,000 to travel to the National Hospital in Colombo for treatment. Because most of them have vision in only one eye, they struggle with imbalance and cannot travel by bus. The Government has not provided any relief, including basic requests such as spectacles,” Yapabandara charged. One can only imagine the anguish and suffering the seventy victims of this tragedy and their loved ones go through on a daily basis. Yapabandara claimed that the relevant pharmaceutical company is attempting to get away with their responsibility by paying smaller sums of money to the affected individuals. "How can these people live the rest of their life with a little sum of money? We even discussed this issue with the Health Minister, Dr. Ramesh Pathirana; and all that he says is that they will do it. Nothing happens in the end. We request the Government to prepare a special mechanism for these individuals and their families to live,” Yapabandara urged.
It is unconscionable why the Government has not moved quickly to provide relief to the victims of the incident, if Yapabandara’s allegations are accurate. The Government, over the last year, despite serious financial constraints offered significant relief to certain segments of the population, especially those who are close to or below the poverty line. Why the State would fail in its duty to provide relief to a vulnerable group of citizens who have clearly been wronged, underlines the weak state of governance, and apathy toward the citizenry which many lawmakers and public officials have. Shame.