Loss of eyesight due to Indian med: Sri Lanka seeks compensation from Indian company

• The company is registered under NMRA and European Union   
• Supplier has been supplying medicines to SL for last seven years   

By Sheain Fernandopulle   

Following the Daily Mirror’s exclusive report on patients demanding compensation after complications over the use of an Indian medicine, the Health Ministry requested Indiana Ophthalmics, the Indian Company that manufactured the medicine in question, to grant compensation.   

Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told Daily Mirror the official request had been made to the company by the Health Ministry Secretary.   

“We are yet to get a response from the company. “We have also informed the supplier, Alvita Pharma about this concern,” he said.   

Minister Rambukwella who expressed concerns about the plight of the patients said, “Quality failures occur at times. There have been similar incidents of this nature globally as well.”   

“The supplier has been supplying medicines for the last seven years to Sri Lanka and is registered under the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) and the European Union,” he said.   
Indiana Ophthalmics which started in 1981 is one of the largest manufacturers of eye drops and eye ointments in India while Alvita Pharma, the supplier headquartered in Mumbai is a young company engaged in the development, registration, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceutical products to countries in Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa.   

On May 12, several patients who developed complications due to the use of ‘Prednisolone’, an eye drop used after cataract surgeries at three government hospitals, exclusively speaking with Daily Mirror said they demanded financial compensation for the damage caused to their eyes and possible threats to their lives.   
According to health authorities, about 30 patients have been found with eye complications.

The entire batch of medicine was withdrawn from use following the incident. A bacteria called ‘Burkholderia Cepacia’ is said to have caused the complications.