LAHORE: The inquiries into the use of the Avastin injection revealed that lab tests of five patients show they were affected by Pseudomonas aeruginosa — an infection-causing bacterium that may leave some of the affected persons, who received the drug, permanently blind at a later stage.

Medical experts are terming the situation alarming, saying that previous global studies on the Pseudomonas aeruginosa have shown that attempts to control the infection caused by it have proved unsuccessful despite use of strong antibiotics.

They say that the bacterium particularly invades people with compromised immune system and leaves a drastic impact on their vision as it appears chronic, rather than being acute, in most of the cases.

An official privy to the investigations told Dawn the samples of eye fluids of the affected patients were sent to the labs and the private hospitals.

He says the lab reports confirm that the Avastin injection administered to the patients had developed contamination and its use later compromised the vision of the 68 patients officially reported across Punjab so far.

He adds that following detection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the eye patients, senior doctors are busy evolving a strategy to counter the situation.

He claims that the actual number of affected patients can be far higher than what is being claimed officially by the provincial health authorities as Avastin is being widely used, particularly by many private eye hospitals being run as trust.

He says some weeks back a dozens of such eye infection cases had surfaced at a private health facility in Lahore alone, which were either ignored or downplayed by the health authorities concerned to avoid the hassle of conducting thorough investigations.

The official says that to have a true picture of the drug’s impact, the health authorities need to expand the scope of investigations, particularly to all trust hospitals or other private healthcare facilities catering to eye patients in Lahore and other major cities.

He says the health ministers and the senior officials of the department seem reluctant to give the exact number of the affected patients due to the reasons best known to them.

In the wake of the lab reports of the five affected patients, the official says, the experts are of the view that the same infection may also have been developed in the remaining 63 patients.

He says given this view, the doctors have decided to treat all the 68 infected patients on the same lines as was prescribed for the five patients whose lab reports detected Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

“Following the lab reports, most of the officials and the medical experts have recommended that the health department should devise new guidelines for further use of Avastin for the eye patients in future,” the official says.

On the other hand, Punjab primary and secondary healthcare department minister Jamal Nasir has said the high-level inquiry launched into the use of the Avastin injection on eye patients in Punjab is heading to final stage.

The probe may be complete in a few days, he said, adding that the 68 patients reported so far have complained of serious eyesight issues after being administered Avastin injection.

He further said that 10-15 more patients could be added to the list of those affected by the drug.

However, the minister said, it would be premature to give the exact number of the affected patients in the province as the health authorities were trying to get updates to gather authentic data.

Dr Nasir said there were total of 20 eye patients under treatment at the Mayo Hospital Lahore and 18 of them have been provided initial treatment so far.

Similarly, two out of three affected patients have been provided initial treatment in Multan and another has undergone surgery, he added.

The minister said the samples of the Avastin drug have been sent to the Drug Testing Laboratory and the reports might be issued within 15 days or so.

Meanwhile, in a related development, the three accused persons — Alia Gohar, Ali Gohar and Asim Umar — have been granted pre-arrest bail till Oct 9 by an additional district sessions judge in the Avastin reaction case lodged with the Faisal Town police station.

The police also claimed to have arrested another suspect in the same case.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2023