Kolkata: The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission has instructed Desun Hospital to waive six days' charges from the treatment bill of a burn patient after the panel found out that the patient was not discharged, despite her family's request.
The complainant, Ujjal Sen, said his wife was admitted to the burns ward on Jan 12. The hospital gave him an expenditure estimate of Rs 1-lakh a day, following which Sen asked them to discharge his wife, insisting he could not afford treatment there. On Jan 20, the patient's mother signed a risk bond, but the hospital refused to release the patient. "The hospital admitted receiving the risk bond but could not give a satisfactory answer to why it did not release the patient," said WBCERC chairman Justice (retd) Ashim Kumar Banerjee.
Sen, in his complaint stated, he was charged Rs 7 lakh and that his wife was held ‘hostage' as he could not pay it. With the hospital offering him a discount of Rs 1.5 lakh, Sen paid Rs 4 lakh, gave a post-dated cheque of Rs 1 lakh and shifted his wife to a govt hospital on Jan 25. But the woman died two to three days later.
"In critical cases, no hospital can deny medical care to an admitted patient for non-payment of dues. We directed Desun Hospital to recall the bill, prepare a fresh bill after waiving the Jan 20-Jan 25 amount, and consider a 10% discount on medicine and 20% on consumables. If there is any due from the patient, after crediting the discount they offered, they can realise the amount from the complainant or return the post-dated cheque," Banerjee said. The hospital was fined Rs 5,000 for not giving Sen a copy of its reply to the panel.
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