In AP, patients lose eyeballs after infection – 11/02/2023 – Health

Carpenter Antônio Ferreira, 82, says that he was proud of the autonomy he had, when carrying out domestic and personal activities alone, but now he can no longer even walk around his own house without help. He was one of 104 patients who had eye infections after a group of free eye surgeries, held on September 4, in Amapá.

Of this group, Ferreira was one of the seven most serious cases, who had to undergo evisceration (removal of the eyeball) after contracting endophthalmitis. The patient lost his right eye, on September 10th, during treatment at Clínica dos Olhos, in the municipality of Ananindeua, metropolitan region of Belém, in Pará. Before that, he already suffered from low vision on the left side, due to cataracts.

“I don’t have the money to go for treatment. My right eye was the one I could see best. Now I don’t have my eye anymore, it was ripped out. I could do anything before. There was no problem. I walked down the street alone , I was going to the market. Now I can’t even walk around the house alone.”

With diabetes and hypertension, Antônio Ferreira reported that he began to feel severe pain three days after cataract surgery offered by the Mais Visão program, in Macapá. The patient was referred for care after diagnosis at a private optician.

After health complications and loss of the eye, the excess medication during treatment caused Ferreira, according to his family, to suffer from kidney failure in both kidneys and affected his liver.

“I couldn’t sleep day or night because of the pain in my eyes, liver and kidneys. I thought I was going to die. I even said goodbye to all my children”, he said.

For Ferreira’s family, the help received by the program coordinator during treatment in Macapá was not enough. Until now, they would have received two basic food baskets and two fuel vouchers worth R$50.00 each, and the patient needs to travel from the north to the center and south, in search of treatments.

The elderly man will soon go through a new drama, the family said. During his visits to the ophthalmologist, throughout the recovery process, he was diagnosed with glaucoma in his left eye and will soon lose his vision completely, as the disease has no cure.

More Vision Program

Ferreira contracted the hospital infection after undergoing surgery on the Mais Visão program, in Macapá. In total, 141 people were treated in this same effort, 104 of which had post-operative complications. The activities continued until September 8th, when the Amapá Public Ministry requested the suspension of services after the allegations emerged.

The initiative has been carried out since 2020 by the Frei Daniel de Samatare Human Promotion Center in partnership with the Government of Amapá, through a funding agreement. When contacted, both bodies reported that they provide full assistance to patients and families with medical and psychological care, and treatment costs in Amapá, in private clinics, and outside the state, including accommodation and food.

In a statement, the outsourced company Saúde Link, responsible for the procedures in the program, said that it worked for “a thousand days alongside a serious team of doctors, nurses, health professionals so that more than 100 thousand people were operated on and saw again. There were more than a thousand days of successful operations.”

Saúde Link also reported that patients who had a hospital infection were treated in a single room, despite the precautions taken. The location was isolated for investigation and, after learning of the cases, activities were suspended indefinitely.

Mais Visão began during the mandate of the then governor of Amapá, Waldez Góes (PDT), current minister of Regional Integration and Development, and from the beginning it has relied on parliamentary amendment resources from senator Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil). The current governor Clécio Luís Vieira (Solidariedade), elected in 2022 with political support from Góes and Alcolumbre, continued the development agreement.

According to the Secretary of Health, Silvana Vedovelli, from the Clécio administration, two patients were transferred to hospitals in São Paulo and 68 were sent to Pará – of these 55 underwent vitrectomy (eye surgery to treat problems with the retina and vitreous of the eye) and 13 had a corneal transplant. The rest are being treated in Macapá, in Capuchinhos (as the Frei Samarate Center is known) and in a private hospital, funded by Mais Visão.

“The Mais Visão program has been carried out for three years and has always had successful results. But, on September 4th, for us, it was fateful, a tragedy. We had never been through this. The Government of Amapá stands in solidarity with all patients and affected family members. We are in Health to save lives, and we are providing comprehensive assistance”, said the secretary.

Investigation

The Health Prosecutor’s Office, from the Public Ministry of Amapá, has closely monitored the 104 cases of post-surgery complications since the first reports. Prosecutor Wueber Penafort, responsible for the case, highlights that he requested an investigation from Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) and SVS (Superintendence of Health Surveillance), from the state government.

“I convened the supervisory bodies and we held a meeting to establish a working methodology on the investigation questions. We asked to suspend the transfer of public resources to the program and demanded that a 24-hour shift of medical and social care be offered to patients affected by endophthalmitis”.

Still according to Penafort, other prosecutors entered the investigation circuit, such as Criminal, to assess whether it was intentional, negligent or misfortune, and Public Patrimony, because it involves contractual processes with public funds, in addition to Health, which evaluates medical and assistance issues. the health.

“The biological agent that caused the hospital infection has not yet been identified. They do not know if it was fungi or bacteria, or if it was due to the products used in the procedures or if it was the location or medical error”, highlighted the prosecutor.