Fortis Hosp fined Rs 1L for detaining elderly for 12 hrs
Kolkata: The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) on Monday imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Fortis Hospital, Mukundapur for a “criminal offence” in which the hospital authorities detained a 63-year-old woman for 12 hours for no fault of her family.
The patient Ruma Mitra, a resident of Belghoria who had undergone two back-to-back major surgeries was released by the doctor at 8 am on June 14 this year, seven days after she was admitted. The patient who has a medical insurance was detained by the hospital till 8 pm as non medical charge of Rs 25,000 which the patient’s family was supposed to pay in cash was wrongly entered following a goof up in the bill that was sent to the Insurance Company for its clearance.
Fortis Hospital wanted to ensure that the patient’s family members pay a consumable charge of Rs 25,000 as they apprehended that the insurance company would not eventually clear the amount as it was supposed to be paid by the family. Mitra’s relatives refused to pay the amount as the hospital would not issue any bill for the amount as it was wrongly entered in the bill that will be cleared by the insurance company. Due to a goof up that happened between the hospital and the insurance company, an elderly woman was detained. The patient was admitted to the hospital on May 26 and she had undergone two surgeries — gallbladder and hernia.
The family members called up the police by dialing 100. The hospital authorities initially refused to release the patient due to non-realisation of Rs 25,000 but the patient was discharged after 12 hours following the intervention of police personnel. The patient was taken to her daughter’s house in Kasba at midnight after the day’s ordeal.
WBCER Chairman Justice (retired) Ashim Banerjee termed the incident as “a criminal offence” and asked the concerned personnel of the hospital to visit the patient’s house in Belghoria and seek an apology. If the patient does not grant them an apology, an FIR may be lodged against them, Banerjee observed. He also directed the hospital to pay the fine of Rs 1 lakh to an orphanage in New Town as the patient’s family members refused to take any amount and urged the commission to give the amount to any orphanage. The WBCERC also asked the hospital authorities to make arrangements to take the patient’s family to the orphanage when they would hand over the amount to the orphanage.
In another development, the WBCERC asked IRIS Hospital to return Rs 3 lakh to the family members of a patient who was admitted to the hospital with neurological problems. The hospital took nearly around Rs 3 lakh despite having Swasthya sathi card. The Commission asked the hospital to return the amount.
