A special committee from Morocco’s Ministry of Health and Social Protection is investigating a case in which 15 diabetic patients reportedly suffered severe vision damage, including vision loss, after receiving eye injections at Mohammed VI University Hospital in Tangier, according to Hespress AR sources.
The patients had received the treatment as part of their regular medical follow-up at the hospital’s ophthalmology department. The investigation began after two patients developed acute inflammation following treatment on October 8, prompting hospital staff to contact the other 16 patients who had received the same treatment.
Similar symptoms were subsequently identified in most of the 18 patients, raising concerns about the cause of the complications, the sources said.
The hospital’s infection-control committee and the National Blood Agency also visited the facility and collected blood samples from affected patients for laboratory testing and analysis. The tests aim to determine the cause of the inflammation, which reportedly left some patients with near-total vision loss.
According to the sources, most of the affected patients are older adults with diabetes who already suffered from impaired vision and weakened retinas due to complications associated with the chronic disease.
A hospital official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said medical records showed that all affected patients had a visual acuity of around 2/10, making the consequences of the acute inflammation particularly severe. Some patients consequently experienced what they described as complete vision loss.
Specialized medical teams are monitoring and treating all reported cases at the university hospital, the official said, adding that the final outcome for patients is expected to become clearer in approximately three months.
Questions have also been raised about whether the medication used in the injections had expired. The hospital official denied this, stating that the drug remained within its validity period, which runs until September 30, 2028.
Investigators are examining whether the inflammation resulted from a chemical change in the drug’s composition or from another source of infection, the official said.
Several of the affected patients had previously received the same injection as part of their treatment, in some cases on five occasions, according to the source.
The investigation is ongoing, and the cause of the complications has not yet been established.
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