Multinational company's Intraocular Lenses turn opaque, ex-MP writes to Health Minister

By Shalini Bhardwaj
New Delhi [India], June 19 : A former Member of Parliament, Dr Vikas Mahatame has expressed concerns about Intraocular Lenses (IOL) manufactured by a multinational company for cataract surgery.
In a letter addressed to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Mahatame highlighted his grievances against the company and urged immediate action.
According to the letter, Dr Vikas has requested the Union Health minister to take action against the multinational company Alcon which manufactures Intra Ocular Lenses for cataract surgery.
"I wish to bring to your kind notice a serious problem with Alcon. Alcon is a multinational company that manufactures Intra Ocular Lenses (IOL) for cataract surgery. I have implanted it in one of my patients, Sanjay Bhalme. It is expected that the lens which is implanted must remain transparent for the rest of life of the patient. On 9 May 2016, I implanted Alcon IOL in a patient's Right Eye. The details of the IOL are as follows - Acrysof Single Piece IOL; Model- SA60AT; Power - 23.5 D, Length 13 mm; Optic 6 mm; SN - 21136985 027", it read.
He said that when the patient came to him in November 2022. He has a diminished quality of vision. He can no longer see light from the front side, exacerbating the fact that his left eye is already blind. The situation has left Bhalme depressed and frustrated with this event.
Dr. Mahatame expressed his disappointment with Alcon's response to the matter. Despite raising his concerns with the company, their attitude was characterized as casual and careless.
"I raised my concern with Alcon. However, their attitude was very casual and careless. I had a VC meeting with the Alcon team. However, they were not at all sensitive about this issue. This they can do only in India. Had it been any Western country, they would have paid a huge compensation," he said.
Moreover, he is concerned that similar problems may arise in other patients, potentially leading to further vision complications. To prevent such incidents and provide compensation for his patient's compromised vision, he implored the Union Health Minister to intervene and take stringent action against the company.
"I am also concerned that similar problems may occur in other patients and may create a disaster for him/her. To avoid this and also to compensate for the vision of the patient, I seek your intervention in this matter so that stringent action should be taken against the company. This will ensure that no more patients are affected in this way. The company can't take Indian patients so lightly. Requesting your kind attention please, he further added.