Lagoa eye doctor prosecuted for blinding patient

Paul 05 December 2014

eye The trial has started of the Dutch ophthalmologist Franciscus Versteeg who ran the I-QMed clinic in Lagoa’s business park.

Versteeg is accused of causing physical harm due to negligence and four of his former patients are looking for compensation totalling around €200,000.

In 2010, four of Versteeg’s patients underwent eye surgery and all later suffered serious infection resulting in partial blindness for three and total blindness for one.

Versteeg is accused of not properly disinfecting his equipment before the operations took place at the I-QMed clinic in Lagoa.

Dr Versteeg has remained in Holland due to 'financial constraints' and is being represented in Portimão court by a nominated lawyer. The news of Versteeg's poverty caused dismay for those of his patients left with partial or zero sight.

Also being prosecuted is Reinaldo Bartolomeu who assisted Versteeg at the clinic and who is charged with carrying out work while not waering gloves and hence putting patients at risk of infection.

According to the prosecution, Dr. Versteeg did not carry out proper disinfection and cleaning of the premises and operating area when he carried out surgery in July 2010.

Instruments were not properly sterilised and Versteeg allowed Bartolomeu to assist him without wearing gloves which enabled the spread of bacteria which can cause serious eye infections to patients.

Infection was transmitted to Leopoldina Rosa, Valdelene Aparecida, Ernesto Barradas and Michael Donovan who underwent eye surgery at the clinic.

In an interview with Correio da Manhã, Valdelene Aparecida said that she had completely lost her sight and had been unable to work ever since the treatment which went so horribly wrong.

The case caused widespread concern at the time with patients having to be transferred to the public health service for treatment. All claim to have been left partially blind after the surgery.

The case continues in court on December 12.

Comments

+1 #6 Karel 2014-12-07 11:26

The Dutch engineering company ISIS was in charge of the technical controls of the laser installation.
The Loulé oftamologist prof. Dr David Madeira is the best of Portugal and has even an international reputation as he is linked to practically all European university clinics.
In Europe there is a failiure (acceptance) of about 3%, Versteeg had 5 or 6 "problems" out of 1000 patients and that puts him somewhere among the best in the row.

+1 #5 Ernst 2014-12-07 09:03

In 2003 I was operated by Dr Versteeg -a lens was implanted, according to Dr Versteeg this was better than a laser procedure in my case. My eye was infected badly. As Dr Versteeg had to leave to the Netherlands to attend to his other clinic there, I went to an eye-specialist in Loulé for treatment. This doctor cured my eye, but wearing glasses stayed neccessary. Ten years later I had a laser operation for which I was too old according to Dr Versteeg and finally I could put aside my glasses.
Why does no one mention the problems he had before when his laser equipment was not factory-maintained properly and thus caused great problems to patients that were treated in that periode? It must have been around 2007 or so.

+1 #4 Karel 2014-12-06 12:55

As the (Portugese) inspectors did not find "professional medical or clinical mistakes" they had to find "something else" and of course "that should be as confusing but as bad as possible" Therefore: lack of hygiene because that is extremely difficult to prove isn't it?

I was there very often too but I never discovered something that shows in that particular direction. As Versteeg told me himself: as the money involved in this section of medecine is enormous, all doctors involved act like sharks".

0 #3 Herman 2014-12-06 10:26

Complicating this is that it is now widely known that Portugal has been flooded, and in turn, has helped flood the rest of the EU - with substandard diluted versions of branded medicines and ointments. Headquarters in the 1st world but manufacturing in the 3rd world.

Was a batch of 30% strength ointment sold to this Dutch specialist and he unwittingly used it on these patients ?

And this is how it is covered up ?

Or maybe Socrates Octapharma is one of those involved?

It seems a bit of a cowboy to those rock solid honest Brazilians ....

O caso, que ganhou mediatismo sob o nome de "Máfia dos Vampiros"

(and)

Octapharma é suspeita de inflacionar preços para valores muito superiores aos do mercado.

Ler mais: http://expresso.sapo.pt/socrates-e-a-mafia-dos-vampiros=f789169#ixzz3L70IxsAb

+3 #2 DavidP 2014-12-06 09:52

Re Karel's assertion above - how did the patients become blind, or partially sighted, if this is simply a plot by competitors against Dr Versteeg?

I visited his clinic several times and noted that it served as many Portuguese patients as foreigners so anyone was in danger of infection if poor hygeine was the case.

If Dr Versteeg was fully licenced he would have had to have professional indemnity insurance, surely?

-1 #1 Karel 2014-12-06 09:05

This is an incredible story. The doctor even had been questioned in homeland Holland by members of his corporation where it turned out that his "good result score" was far more better than the doctors' one that tried to incriminate Versteeg... He succesfully helped thousands of people and only 4 (Portugese) patients had problems after the laser operation. In the eyes of many this trial is not based on "lack of hygiëne" but purely on... jalousy among doctors ! Not nice, isn't it ?

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