Mum Says Son's Eye Cut Out In Error

Mum says son's eye cut out in error

Published on Jan 8, 2004

The mother who accused Khon Kaen doctors of removing her son's eye by mistake demanded compensation yesterday.

"I wish he still had the eye even though it didn't work … it's my fault that I believed those doctors," Chaba Nuansawang sobbed to reporters in Bangkok yesterday at a press conference called by the Pavena Foundation for Children and Women.

The two-year-old boy needs an artificial eyeball but Chaba cannot afford to pay for it and it is not covered by the government's Bt30 healthcare scheme.

In August, Chaba took her son Suriya "Nong Ya" to a community hospital for an eye infection. He was referred to Khon Kaen Centre Hospital, which diagnosed him as having probable cancer of the eye. He was further referred to Sri Nagarindra Hospital, where doctors recommended Chaba allow them to extract his eye after deciding he had symptoms of a likely cancerous tumour. They told her if her son was not operated on, complications could follow and he could die, she said.

In September, Chaba agreed to the procedure but pathology tests showed the cause had not, in fact, been cancer. Sri Nagarindra director Suthee Kraitra-kul said the treatment and diagnosis all met accepted medical standards.

The boy was blind in that eye, which had been defective since birth. Not removing it could have led to serious complications, and the boy was better off getting an artificial eyeball, Dr Suthee said.

Chaba, who said she had been abandoned by her husband, has been supporting herself and her son by cutting sugar cane.

She had travelled to Bangkok to ask the Public Health Ministry for assistance with getting an artificial eye and an official there had promised to help her. As she travelled home, she met a student who helped her file a complaint with the Pavena group.

--The Nation 2004-01-08