In yet another case of the patient being overcharged by the hospital, the Ludhiana Police on Monday booked an FIR against Jain Multispecialty Hospital.
According to the FIR, the hospital charged COVID-19 patients nearly 106 per cent over and above the rates fixed by the government.
On behalf of the complaint by Sagar Verma, a resident of Yamuna Nagar in Haryana, a case under sections 269, 270, 188 of IPC, 51 (B) and 58 of Disaster Management Act 2005 and 3 of Epidemic Disease Act 1897 has been registered against the management of the hospital, reported The Indian Express.
Verma who filed the complaint with deputy commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma alleged the hospital for overcharging him for the Covid treatment of his father, who later passed away in another hospital.
After the registration of the complaint, the Deputy Commissioner had ordered a probe against the hospital. Apart from this, a committee headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner (D) Sandeep Kumar, Deputy Director Dr Hatinder Kaur, and Assistant Civil Surgeon Dr Vivek Kataria were directed to finish the investigations within 48-hours.
According to the details of the inquiry, as per the government's rates fixed for COVID-19 treatment, the actual bill of Verma's father treatment should come around Rs 2,35,450.
However, the hospital, however asked Verma to pay an amount of Rs 8,45,062.
Later, during the probe, the hospital termed that the amount initially quoted as a clerical error. It further mentioned that the actual bill was Rs 4,86,010.
The report also states that due to the overbilling by the hospital, the complainant shifted his father to another health institution, where he died due to COVID-19.
Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma shared that the district administration has been keeping an eye on the functioning of hospitals and was tracking all those who are involved in any kind of malpractice.
He also informed anyone can file a complaint on the 104 helpline number of the Health department regarding unethical practices by hospitals.
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