Turkish Health Ministry fined for lost eyes in surgery

İZMİR - Doğan News Agency

Two patients, Musa Meles and Hüdaverdi Gündüz, will be paid 50,000 Turkish Liras each for an operation after which they their lost sight. DHA photo

A local court in Turkey has ordered the Health Ministry to pay 100,000 Turkish Liras in total to two patients who lost sight in one eye after a cataract operation in İzmir three years ago.

Four patients who lost their sight due to an infection after a cataract operation in a state hospital in İzmir each demanded 300,000 liras from the Health Ministry. The court concluded the complaints of the two patients, Musa Meles and Hüdaverdi Gündüz, and decided that the ministry must pay 50,000 liras to each for their loss. Hadi Genç, the lawyer of the two patients, said the compensation was ridiculously low, showing the importance paid to individuals in the country.

In 2011, eight patients who were operated on for cataracts at the İzmir Dr. Suat Seren Thoracic Diseases and Surgery Research and Education Hospital on the same day also experienced problems with their eyes.

They all applied to the hospital with complaints of burning in the eye. G.K., the doctor who operated on all patients, told them that their eyes were infected. Four patients later learned they had lost sight in the operated eye.