To Kill an Eye Surgeon
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Eye Surgeon Jens Kratholm, MD practiced ophthalmology in Narvik, Norway for decades. He was their community’s only eye surgeon until an unimaginable disaster struck his cataract practice in late January of 2019. A serious outbreak of infections known as ‘endophthalmitis’ (related to antibiotic resistant pathogens from a faulty air ventilation system) affected 7 eyes of 5 patients after seemingly routine cataract extraction. A total of 16 cataract surgeries had been performed that day.
Note: For those reading, this is an extremely unusual, isolated event that should not worry the general public about having cataract surgery today, which is a wonderful and safe procedure (cataract surgery is the most commonly performed surgery in the world).
In his previous decades of cataract surgery, he experienced only 2 cases of endophthalmitis in more than 6,000 surgeries. This record is better than many peer reviewed literature studies, revealing exemplary surgical skill and clinical performance.
The pathogens discovered were part of a family of antibiotic resistant bacteria known as Burkholderia Cepacia Complex or BCC. They are commonly found in soil or root systems. BCC essentially hibernates in the absence of nutrients, making them all the more pernicious. They are categorized as ‘Vital Does Not Culture’ (VDNC), so epidemiological work in standard medical culturing did not work upon these environmental forces, thereby obscuring the root cause and compounding his medical dilemma.
The image is of Jens Kratholm, MD (right) and Harry Flynn, MD (left). Kratholm met Flynn early in the international ordeal seeking his expert help. It was while visiting Doctor Flynn, a recognized authority in infectious disease in ophthalmology at the prestigious Bascom Palmer Eye Center, University of Miami, Florida where he learned these microorganisms will eventually ‘wake up’ when introduced to a nutrient rich environment, such as inside the eye. He was informed of alarming news; BCC could take up to two weeks or even as long as 6 months to present clinically.
This turned out to be almost prophetically accurate; his first two patients with endophthalmitis presented two weeks postoperatively and the last presented almost 5 months postoperatively.
Prior to this, Dr. Kratholm had halted operations the moment he had recognized the endophthalmitis outbreak. As it turned out, the infections were all acquired Sunday, January 13th, 2019. These unfortunate events transpired during unusually warm weather and heavy rains that winter. Unbeknownst to him and his staff, his incompetently installed ventilation system (buried underground) flooded with ground water due to rupture.
The surgeon managed everything as well as humanly possible, and his approach was appropriate medically. However, he came under attack by Norwegian government health care authorities (USFDA equivalent) who have temporarily removed his medical license. National media portrayed him in a bad light while lawsuits were filed against him on behalf of his patients. Ultimately, it destroyed his practice, reputation and personal and professional credibility. He has essentially been bankrupted during the process.
Doctor Kratholm needs financial support from his colleagues and industry alongside compassionate people so inclined to help stabilize his life. The medical disaster alone would have been enough to ruin the life of any competent eye physician. Altogether, it was the perfect storm of eye surgery disaster that he had no control over. Sadly, it happened to the nicest Doctor you would ever meet, his family, medical staff, patients and the community of Narvik.
We believe his findings could lead to future peer-reviewed medical journal publications. It is possible that his clinical research will rise to the level of potential Nobel Prize nominations. Only time will tell what we will see, but the goal is to ensure that something like this never occurs again.
Thank you all for your help in advance.
Douglas J. Mastel, CEO
Mastel Precision Surgical Instruments, Inc.
Note: For those reading, this is an extremely unusual, isolated event that should not worry the general public about having cataract surgery today, which is a wonderful and safe procedure (cataract surgery is the most commonly performed surgery in the world).
In his previous decades of cataract surgery, he experienced only 2 cases of endophthalmitis in more than 6,000 surgeries. This record is better than many peer reviewed literature studies, revealing exemplary surgical skill and clinical performance.
The pathogens discovered were part of a family of antibiotic resistant bacteria known as Burkholderia Cepacia Complex or BCC. They are commonly found in soil or root systems. BCC essentially hibernates in the absence of nutrients, making them all the more pernicious. They are categorized as ‘Vital Does Not Culture’ (VDNC), so epidemiological work in standard medical culturing did not work upon these environmental forces, thereby obscuring the root cause and compounding his medical dilemma.
The image is of Jens Kratholm, MD (right) and Harry Flynn, MD (left). Kratholm met Flynn early in the international ordeal seeking his expert help. It was while visiting Doctor Flynn, a recognized authority in infectious disease in ophthalmology at the prestigious Bascom Palmer Eye Center, University of Miami, Florida where he learned these microorganisms will eventually ‘wake up’ when introduced to a nutrient rich environment, such as inside the eye. He was informed of alarming news; BCC could take up to two weeks or even as long as 6 months to present clinically.
This turned out to be almost prophetically accurate; his first two patients with endophthalmitis presented two weeks postoperatively and the last presented almost 5 months postoperatively.
Prior to this, Dr. Kratholm had halted operations the moment he had recognized the endophthalmitis outbreak. As it turned out, the infections were all acquired Sunday, January 13th, 2019. These unfortunate events transpired during unusually warm weather and heavy rains that winter. Unbeknownst to him and his staff, his incompetently installed ventilation system (buried underground) flooded with ground water due to rupture.
The surgeon managed everything as well as humanly possible, and his approach was appropriate medically. However, he came under attack by Norwegian government health care authorities (USFDA equivalent) who have temporarily removed his medical license. National media portrayed him in a bad light while lawsuits were filed against him on behalf of his patients. Ultimately, it destroyed his practice, reputation and personal and professional credibility. He has essentially been bankrupted during the process.
Doctor Kratholm needs financial support from his colleagues and industry alongside compassionate people so inclined to help stabilize his life. The medical disaster alone would have been enough to ruin the life of any competent eye physician. Altogether, it was the perfect storm of eye surgery disaster that he had no control over. Sadly, it happened to the nicest Doctor you would ever meet, his family, medical staff, patients and the community of Narvik.
We believe his findings could lead to future peer-reviewed medical journal publications. It is possible that his clinical research will rise to the level of potential Nobel Prize nominations. Only time will tell what we will see, but the goal is to ensure that something like this never occurs again.
Thank you all for your help in advance.
Douglas J. Mastel, CEO
Mastel Precision Surgical Instruments, Inc.
Organizer
Jens Kratholm
Organizer
Narvik
