Eyebrows raised as company sells eye-drops without safeguards

Manmeet Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 17

Even as around 60 people, including 16 from the district, lost their eyesight to botched surgeries facilitated by an NGO in unhygienic conditions, the local administration seems not to have learned any lesson.

This is evident from the stall being set up by a private drug manufacturer to promote eye drops. The employees of the company were alluring people with the promise of miraculous results. The employees at the stall also urged the people to test the eye drops free of cost at the stall.

However, as the botched eye surgery around two years ago is still vivid in the minds of the local residents, they question the motive of the eye drop manufacturer.

“Putting drops in the eye is a sensitive issue and it should not be done without consulting an eye specialist. But the administration seems indifferent as the drug manufacturers are selling eye drops as if these were pop corns,” said an elderly Sukhjit Singh.

He said the health department should issue a notice to the manufacturer asking if he had sought permission from the authorities for putting drops in the eyes of patients by setting up a roadside tent.

The residents pointed out that drugs could be sold only by a registered chemist shop or a qualified pharmacist over the counter. “As far as we know, there is no provision to set up makeshift stalls to sell medicines on the roadside. The administration should check the authenticity of the sellers in the interest of the residents and ensure that no such things happen in future,” said Kirpal Singh, another resident.