Surgeries at the National Eye Hospital in Colombo have come to a halt due to a contaminated drug used to treat patients, Dr. Prasad Colombage of the Government Medical Officers' Association (GMOA) said. 

“There were concerning reports of patients falling ill. The cause has been identified as the contamination of the drug Prednisolone administered to several eye patients, who have fallen ill with a bacterial infection,” he said. 

Accordingly, all routine surgeries at the Eye Hospital had been suspended since April 14, while only emergency surgeries have been performed. 

“There have been reports of similar cases from other hospitals and the authorities are looking into it,” Dr. Colombage said, urging the Ministry of Health to ensure the quality of drugs distributed to hospitals, following a thorough quality check. 

"Steps should be taken to remove these batches of medicines from state and private hospitals. Their batch and lot numbers should also be publicized,” he said. 

Dr. Colombage said that only one brand of the drug Prednisolone acetate was reported to have caused issues so far. “The medical professionals should be made aware of the brand name, current stocks and where the particular drug is available. Only then will we be able to protect patients," he said.