Regulatory Commission asks pvt hosp to refund Rs 50K

Kolkata: West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) has asked Kasturi Das Memorial Super Speciality Hospital in Maheshtala to refund Rs 50,000 to the family members of a patient who was charged exorbitantly.

The WBCERC Chairperson Justice (retired) Ashim Kumar Banerjee said that during the probe the Commission found that the private hospital had charged the patient excessively. The patient, Chinmay Chakraborty was admitted to the hospital and had remained under treatment for 15 days. The hospital had charged a total bill of Rs 3.41 lakh. During the hearing the Commission found that the hospital had charged Rs 9,000 per day as bed charge. The patient was given a triple sharing bed. Questions have arisen as to how a private hospital can charge such a hefty amount against a triple sharing bed on a daily basis. Apart from this, the Commission also spotted some other excessive charges.

"We have found that the patient was charged for sanitation, biomedical products and other charges separately. The patient was given a triple sharing bed for which he was charged Rs 9,000 per day which we found a bit exorbitant. We have therefore directed the private hospital to refund Rs 50,000 to the patient's family," Banerjee said.

In another incident the Commission has imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on BS Diagnostic Centre for some negligence. The USG report of two women patients was swapped by the private diagnostic clinic as both the women were of the same name. Nafisa Mondal and Nafisa Mullick had undergone USG at this lab.

The private lab goofed up and gave the report of Mullick to Mondal. The incident however caused no harm to the patient. The case was heard by the Commission after a complaint was registered with the regulating authority. The private lab authorities have admitted their mistake. The Commission has asked the private lab to pay a fine of Rs 5,000 to the patient.