THE duty of a doctor is to save the life of a patient. However, many doctors even after taking exorbitant consultation and surgery charges fail in saving the patient’s life.

The worst of such cases have been seen in patients who have eye diseases. First, after consulting an eye specialist, they are recommended an eye surgery.

Second, if any loss does happen in relation with the patient’s eye vision after surgery, the doctors simply hide their inefficiency by declaring post-surgery loss of eye vision as a matter of patient’s fate.

My father underwent eye surgery twice. First, he had his right eye surgery in 2009 and then left eye surgery in 2011. The first surgery was successful, according to the doctor.

However, the doctor failed to recover the deteriorating vision of my father’s left eye. This was despite the fact that he told us confidently that he would save the vision of his eyes, and charged us more than Rs0.3 million.

As we belong to the middle class, managing the skyrocketing fee was tough for us. The doctor, after having failed in his attempt to save my father’s left eye, simply put the results on my father’s fate.

I, along with my father, went to the same doctor for routine eye checkup. Shockingly, the doctor told my father that he had to go under surgery once again of his right eye. However, after operating the eye he told the family members that his right eye has been saved for the rest of his life.

It is really difficult for the middle class, which works day and night to make ends meet, to contribute its maximum to the economy of this country and pay taxes.

I request the health minister and health secretary to look into the matter and take appropriate action against such doctors as, after taking high consultation and surgery fee, fail to save the organs of the patient.

Saqib Khan Yusuf Zai
Sukkur