Desun Hosp accused of not releasing patient for non-payment of total dues worth Rs 12.5L

Kolkata: Desun Hospital has been accused of not releasing a patient who has recovered from Covid as her family members failed to pay the total amount of Rs 12.5 lakh as demanded by the hospital. The incident triggered chaos in the hospital on Friday. Family members later lodged a complaint at Haridevpur police station.

The patient Kum Kum Singha (32), a resident of Dum Dum was admitted to the hospital on May 29 with respiratory distress. She later tested positive for Covid. She has been under treatment at the hospital. She has been cured recently.

The hospital had demanded around Rs 12.5 lakh out of which nearly Rs 7 lakh had already been paid.

When the patient's family members went to the hospital to take the patient home, the hospital allegedly told them that the patient would not be released due to the nonpayment of dues. An altercation broke out between the family members and the family members of the patient.

Family members of the patient alleged that they produced a letter from education minister Bratya Basu but the hospital did not pay any attention to the letter and refused to release the patient. West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) has taken a note of the incident.

A senior official of the hospital said they could not release the patient as the bill is due. They are considering the letter of Bratya Basu. Registering a complaint with the police was uncalled for, the official said.