CHIKKAMAGALURU: A prestigious private hospital in the city is facing the wrath of social media users for raising a whopping bill of Rs 9.25 lakh for treating a Covid patient for 19 days, and in the end, not being able to save him.A relative of the deceased who works as a senior assistant in the finance expenditure section at Vidhana Soudha has lodged a complaint with the Deputy Commissioner seeking action against the hospital management for charging above the rates fixed by the state government.
The patient from Pillenahalli in Kadur taluk was admitted to the hospital on August 24, and the doctors who examined him the next day, shifted him to the ICU, saying his oxygen levels were low. After conducting a rapid antigen test, the doctors said the patient was Covid-negative and shifted him to the general ward.
The same night, the duty doctor moved him to the ICU Covid ward, saying the patient’s oxygen levels had fallen again. After some days, a more reliable RT-PCR test was conducted which confirmed his Covid-positive status. All the while, the doctors kept assuring the family members that the patient’s condition was improving and did not allow him to be taken to any other hospital, the complaint stated. But the patient died on September 11, and the hospital refused to release the body til the family paid the bill of Rs 9,25,601, it stated.
The complainant has sought action against the hospital for going above the ceiling set by the government and to recover the excess amount from the management.The hospital’s head of administration termed the allegations as an attempt to sully the image of the hospital and said they had gone by the government limit, which is Rs 25,000 per day for treating acute Covid patients.