CMRI Hospital fined Rs 10K for ‘misbehaving with woman patient’

Kolkata: The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) on Monday imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on CMRI Hospital for charges of “misbehaving” with a patient.

According to WBCERC, a patient Anupama Halder, a resident of Diamond Harbour in South 24-Parganas conceived through IVF. She was taken to the CMRI Hospital for consultation with a doctor. The doctor the patient was looking for was not available in the hospital. Hence, the patient consulted another doctor.

A family member of the patient told the WBCERC during the hearing that they took the patient to the CMRI for consultation out of faith as the patient had earlier undergone gallbladder surgery at the same hospital. The operation was earlier conducted by the hospital successfully.

This time, after seeing the patient, the consulting doctor asked the patient to go to a hospital coordinator for placing a booking. It was alleged that the coordinator did not take her booking. The patient was sent to an executive of the hospital who allegedly misbehaved with the woman as she was a West Bengal Health Scheme patient. WBCERC chairman Justice (retired) Asim Banerjee said that the hospital coordinator “rudely behaved” with the patient saying that they would treat the patient. After hearing the case, the WBCERC imposed the fine on the hospital. The commission has also directed the hospital authorities to issue a letter of regret to the patient.

In another incident, the WBCERC asked Woodlands Multispeciality Hospital to return Rs 13,600 to a patient’s family members as they were exorbitantly charged. It was alleged that the hospital kept the patient in a single cabin unnecessarily and the patient could have easily been accommodated in a double sharing cabin.