Health regulatory body urges CMRI to waive of Rs 16 lakh bill following patient’s death
Kolkata: The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) in a humanitarian approach urged the CMRI Hospital to waive a bill amount of Rs 16 lakh after the patient, the sole earner of the family died.
The deceased’s daughter is a college student while his wife is a housewife. In a unique gesture, the WBCERC also requested the hospital authorities to form a medical board with the doctors who had treated the patient to convince the family members that all possible steps were taken up but they could not save the patient.
“The deceased’s daughter and wife should never feel that as they failed to clear the bill, the patient was not properly treated. We have urged the hospital authorities to waive the bill amount. The patient’s family had only paid Rs 9,500. The hospital should take a humanitarian approach,” said WBCERC Chairperson, Justice (retired) Ashim Banerjee.
Riya Pal, the college student admitted her father to the hospital as he had suffered a cerebral stroke.
The patient had stayed at the hospital for one month and he died following hospital acquired infection. The hospital had given a demand notice to the deceased’s family for paying the bill with interest. The family members before the death of the patient urged the WBCERC for converting the case into Swasthya Sathi as they were unable to pay the bills. The process was delayed due some initial hiccups but the patient died within 4 days since the date of application. The patient’s family members would not have been able to get the huge amount under Swasthya Sathi. The WBCERC has therefore intervened and urged the hospital to waive the bill on humanitarian grounds. The patient who was the only bread earner of the family used to work in a small shop. The family had only paid Rs 9,500 at the time of admission.
In another case, the WBCERC directed Recovery Nursing Home to refund Rs 46,000 to a patient’s family members after the nursing home had exorbitantly charged.
