Regulatory body imposes Rs 50K penalty on CMRI

kolkata: The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) on Wednesday imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the CMRI hospital for violating the advisories which were earlier issued by the commission to all the private hospitals.

Monalisa Bhattacharya, a resident of Sainthia in Birbhum, was admitted to the hospital on December 31 with kidney-related ailments.

The patient had been under treatment at the critical care unit (CCU) for 7 to 8 days and the family members had shifted the patient to another hospital after 15 days.

After going through the bills, the WBCERC found that the hospital had charged patients exorbitantly and the advisories sent by the Commission were not properly followed.

The Commission had issued a series of advisories to the private hospitals, asking them to provide proper discounts to the patients on medicines, consumables and pathological tests particularly on the portion of payment paid in cash.

"We have imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the CMRI as it violated the advisories of the Commission. They did not update the billing software. On earlier occasion, we had alerted the hospital to provide proper discount as per the advisories," WBCERC Chairperson Justice (retired) Ashim Banerjee said.

It may be mentioned here that the WBCERC on last Monday slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on Fortis Hospital in Anandapur for violating the Commission's advisories.

WBCERC Chairperson on a number of occasions expressed dissatisfaction over the way some of the private hospitals have been flouting the advisories.

The WBCERC in the end of January this year had asked the private hospitals to update their software within a month and also asked to file affidavit mentioning that they have done so. The Commission directed to update software so that it is designed in such a manner that cash discounts can be uploaded in the system.

The WBCERC on Wednesday held its order regarding a case in which some of the staff members of the CMRI allegedly detained a woman, Dola Ghosh to realize the dues after her husband, a police personnel, died in the hospital following Covid. The woman told the Commission that she was kept inside an antechamber throughout the day and not a single glass of water was offered. One staff member had misbehaved with her.