Mangalore: Row Over 'Exorbitant Fees' in City's Hospital Creates Chaos Again
Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (PS)
Mangalore, Nov 12: Another chaos was witnessed at a hospital in the city following a fatal accident, this time at Omega Hospital near Kankanady - Pumpwell.
It may be recalled that a few weeks ago, a similar incident had taken place at a private hospital wherein a group of people had alleged the hospital management of charging the patient unreasonably and refusing to hand over the body without paying the dues.
On Saturday November 12, apart from the tragic death of St Agnes College student Sushmitha in a two-wheeler-lorry accident, her father Ramesh who was seriously injured was admitted to Omega hospital by a samaritan doctor, who requested to be anonymous.
Later in the day, Ramesh was declared dead. But it was alleged that the hospital authorities demanded Rs 20,000 for treating Ramesh Alape for just three hours.
When the family members requested them to release Ramesh’s body, they allegedly demanded Rs 20, 000 - Rs 9000 as ICU charges and remaining amount for bandage, glucose and other treatment charges.
Irked by this, several including Bajarang Dal leader Sharan Pumpwell among others arrived at the hospital and spoke to Bharadwaj, administrator of Omega hospital and the hospital administrator finally agreed for Rs 10,000. Earlier, the hospital administration even tried to fix it at Rs 14000, but more exchange of words finally reduced it down to Rs 10,000.
Ramesh Alape used to write script for dramas and was known to be a soft-spoken person and his financial condition was also not good. His wife is a heart patient, while his son is mentally challenged.
It is alleged that even after explaining his situation earlier, the hospital administration did not heed to any appeal to reduce the charges to a reasonable amount. It was only when people gathered in large numbers that they finally agreed.
The relatives also complained that Ramesh expired on the way to hospital, but the hospital admitted him just to extract money.
Hospital's Version:
When contacted, Omega hospital administrator Dr Bharadwaj said that the bill amount was reasonable, and later, on understanding the circumstances of the patient's family they reduced the bill amount ‘on request’.
There was no argument as such, he said, adding that as soon as the request came they agreed to reduce the bill. As the tyres of the lorry had passed over Ramesh’s chest, he was in a serious condition. The bill included diabetic check up, besides, his kidney was damaged and urine was not passing, and they had to call heart and other specialists.
The doctors tried their best to save his life, he said.
It would be very difficult to judge the incident, and one cannot arrive at any conclusion unless both versions are verified. Hospitals may have their own policies, and if such incidents continue, some of the hospitals may refuse to admit the patient in serious cases fearing chaos.
District administration needs to interfere and pass a rule that would protect both the hospital management as well as patient's family in such crisis.