Last Updated:February 21, 2026, 15:14 IST What was meant to be a routine procedure left nine people blind in one eye & nine others without an eye altogether as a severe bacterial infection spread within 24 hours of surgery The hospital in Gorakhpur where the surgeries were performed. (News18) “We went there to restore her vision, not lose her eye,” says Ram Milan, son of 65-year-old Shankaravati, one of 18 patients whose lives were upended after a cataract surgery camp in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur ended in medical disaster. What was meant to be a routine procedure for 30 patients on February 1 has left nine people blind in one eye and nine others without an eye altogether after a severe bacterial infection spread within 24 hours of surgery. The surgeries were conducted at New Rajesh Hi-Tech Hospital in Sikriganj under the government’s Ayushman Bharat scheme. According to hospital records, patients were kept under observation for three to four hours post-surgery before being discharged. By the next day, however, panic began to spread. “Her eye was …