In 2014, Vashi resident Rajkumar Chandan (71) an actor from yesteryear Bollywood horror movies- was the first to publicly voice concerns about an alleged botched eye surgery at Dr. Pandit Eye Clinic in Sector-10, Vashi.
However, his complaint to the Vashi police station fell on deaf ears, and no action was initiated at the time. "I was told that it's only a Non-Cognizable (NC) matter. No investigations were done and none of my reports were forwarded to Thane Civil Surgeon as per the protocol. I vented out my anger on Google 'review' of the clinic and even then I was asked by one of the senior officers to get it down as the Dr was his friend. If the police would have taken proper action back then, many people's eye sight would have been saved. Even now, my complaint is not attached to the FIR lodged against the Dr sighting it to be a very old case," Chandan who lost eye sight in one eye 11 years back, said.
Chandan had approached the clinic, when both his eyes turned red and he began experiencing severe headaches. He was examined by Dr. Dharamvir Pandit, the proprietor of the clinic, who diagnosed cataracts in both eyes. According to Chandan, he was first operated on his right eye and, 15 days later, on his left eye, were performed both by Dr. Pandit and his son, Dr. Chandan Pandit.
Alleged Surgical Negligence Leaves Actor Partially Blind, Forcing End to His Career
After the left eye surgery, Chandan reported that his left eye’s vision was completely blurred. Despite medication prescribed at the clinic, there was no improvement even after 15 days. When he consulted another specialist, he was devastated to learn that he had lost partial vision in the left eye due to alleged surgical negligence. This outcome also ended his acting career he said he could no longer drive or lead a normal life.
Vashi Police books father-son-duo
Both the father-son duo doctors have been now booked by Vashi police after Thane surgeon gave its report confirming negligence after Koparkhairane resident Rajendra Gupta (67) lost vision of left eye after an alleged botched up surgery by Dr Pandit.
Allegations against Dr Chandan Pandit
Dr Chandan Pandit who is an employee of the health department of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation and was appointed at Airoli NMMC hospital, is accused of conducting surgeries at the clinic which is registered under the name of his father at sector 10. "He doesn't provide any case papers of the patient. After a lot of persuasion, he provided us but it contained his father's name who has not even conducted the surgery," Dipali Gupta, daughter of the complainant said.
Calls and messages to Dr Pandit asking about his dlsay in the allegation, has gone unanswered.
