Health and Population Minister Ahmed Emad-el-din Rady issued five ministerial decisions on Tuesday approving travel to Germany for five patients who went blind after being treated in the government-run Tanta Conjunctivitis Hospital.
The five citizens will be treated in Germany at the expense of the state, with a budget equal to 12,000 euros for each patient, according to Health Ministry Spokesperson Khaled Mogahed.
The ministerial decisions approved the travel of the five patients to Germany for surgery at Klinikum Frankfurt Hochst Hospital under the supervision of Professor Claus Eckardt, according to Mogahed.
The five patients, along with two others, went blind after being treated at Tanta Conjunctivitis Hospital and given the wrong medication. The patients lost their sight as a result of being injected with the Avastin drug.
Emad-el-din Rady said in a statement Monday that the Avastin drug has not been approved by the Health Ministry. He announced the closure of the pharmaesutical company that imported the drug and referred the doctors who used the drug to treat the patients to the public prosecutor.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
