From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, May 24: Criticising the action of private hospitals over-charging Covid patients, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president and former minister D K Shivakumar has appealed to people in the state to notify him through social media if private hospitals were overcharging them for Covid-related medical facilities and not adhering to Supreme Court stipulated guidelines capping the costs.
In an open appeal and also through his Twitter handle, the KPCC chief said: "It is unfortunate that people battling Covid are also having to bear the brunt of exorbitant bills from hospitals which are brazenly violating the Honourable Supreme Court's rules. This has to be stopped. Anyone facing this, please tag me on Twitter and Facebook and I shall personally ensure the matter is looked into, enquired and action taken if matter found valid.’’
D K Shivakumar (file photo)
Through his Twitter handle, #CongressCares Shivakumar in a tweet on Monday accused the state government of patronizing the private hospitals and service providers in fleecing the helpless people.
“The Karnataka government is patronizing a large racket of hospitals and service providers who are fleecing people by over-pricing their facilities. This is sheer profiteering at a time when humanity is battling a pandemic and it is criminal, to say the least,” Shivakumar said asserting “unaffordable medical treatment and the untold misery of the poor is too painful to watch.”
“Prices of hospitals in violation continue to skyrocket as does the suffering of the people. The BJP government is so complacent that it has turned a blind eye towards the misery of people, which makes us think they are complicit in this. It is a dreadful situation where hospitals are charging exorbitantly for beds, oxygen, Covid tests or ambulance facilities, while the chief minister of the state remains unaffected and unbothered in this mayhem,” Shivakumar said.
The KPCC president also attached the price of Covid services fixed by the government on the directions of the Supreme Court to inform people about the maximum prices of the services they should pay to hospitals and service providers.
“We should all stand by one another in this time of crisis. I have been hearing distressing news of such nature over days which is why I have decided to step in. No one should have to lose a life for not being able to afford the medical cost or due to negligence,” he said making an appeal that people must tag @DKShivakumar on Twitter if they are being genuinely harassed by hospitals for Covid services.
“Cases continue to rise, the pressure on the medical infrastructure remains unabated and as a result, we lose more of our brothers and sisters. While the government sleeps on our proposal to vaccinate, another crisis which risks the lives of our people, this profiteering, continues to grow,” Shivakumar said.
He also said it is disgraceful to see many medical institutions working with a profit motive in times like these. In some cases, there is clear negligence in care leading to further complications or worse, death itself. Karnataka, which has been a state of many proud distinctions, now has the infamy of being the state with the highest death toll in a single day.
Hundreds of Kannadigas have tagged KPCC president asking for help in tackling the pandemic.
Responding to the queries, a personal team of the KPCC president is reaching out to the needy across all 31 districts of the state.