Health Minister Ahmed Emad Eddine said that the Avastin used in treating patients who went blind in Tanta is not registered by the ministry’s pharmaceuticals department, which means that the decision to use the substance was a violation by the Tanta ophthalmology hospital.
Eddine said the doctors who used the substance that caused the blindness of seven patients will be suspended until investigations are over and that he will not take any legal action against them until he receives the investigation results.
In remarks on Sunday, the minister said he decided to form a committee of senior ophthalmology professors from Tanta and Ain Shams universities to examine the cases and draft a report to be attached to the investigations. He stressed that the government will burden all expenses of the patients' treatment.
Mohamed Sharshar, deputy minister in Daqahliya, said the empty syringes used on the patients were seized in order to be sent to the hospital’s central laboratories. He added that five cases are in stable condition, while two cases are in serious condition.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
