A respected private hospital in Chikkamagaluru has been facing the anger of social media users for charging a huge bill of Rs 9.25 lakh for treating a COVID patient for almost 19 days, and finally could not even save him. A relative of the deceased patienthas lodged a complaint with the Deputy Commissioner against the hospital management for charging exorbitant rates that were fixed by the state government. The relative works as a senior assistant in the finance expenses section at Vidhana Soudha.

The patient was from Pillenahalli in Kadur taluk and was admitted in the hospital on 24th August. The doctors who examined him, shifted him to the ICU, stating that his oxygen levels were low. After performing a rapid antigen test, the doctors said the patient was COVID-negative and then was shifted to the general ward. The same night, the duty doctor again shifted him to the ICU COVID ward, saying that the patient’s oxygen levels had fallen again. After afew days, a more reliable RT-PCR test was done which confirmed that he is COVID-positive. The complaint stated that all the time, the doctors assured the family members that the patient’s health was improving and did not allow them to take him to any other hospital. However, the patient died on 11th September and the hospital refused to give the body till the family has cleared the bill of Rs 9,25,601.

The complainant is seeking action against the hospital for charging more than the set rates by the government and to recover the extra amount from the management. The hospital’s head of administration labelled the allegations as an effort to spoil the hospital’s image and said that they had charged by the government’s set limit, which is Rs 25,000 per day for treating acute COVID-19 patients.

Source: The New Indian Express