Punjab: Hospital inflated bill by 250%, alleges widower in complaint to DC, minister

Overcharging allegations against private hospitals of Panchkula continue to pour in as patients suffering great personal losses demand the excess amounts back. In another such case, a widower alleged that Wings Hospital inflated the hospital bill by 250 per cent.

As per the complainant- a senior citizen who was admitted at the hospital with his wife for six days, the hospital charged an amount of Rs 4.23 lakh whereas the amount should not have exceeded Rs 1.68 lakh.

The complainant, Raje Singh Rawat (65), and his wife, Savitri Rawat (59), were admitted at Wings Hospital and Heart Centre on May 2 “as a precautionary measure.” Savitri succumbed to the disease on May 24 at another private hospital of in the Tricity.

“We were both pushed away in one room by the hospital as soon as we were admitted. However, on May 6, the hospital all of a sudden asked us to arrange injection Tocilizumab or Bevacizumab immediately. Fortunately, Inj Bevacizumab was anyhow arranged and handed over to the hospital but the same was not given to us stating a lack of supportive medical assistance. Throughout the treatment, the hospital kept demanding money and I was arranging money through my relatives as I was admitted in the same hospital,” stated Raje in an e-mail to Vinay Pratap Singh, District Commissioner and health minister Anil Vij.

He has also alleged negligence by hospital which led to his wife’s death, saying, “The hospital didn’t provide adequate treatment due to which the condition of my wife deteriorated and suddenly the hospital forced us to shift her to another hospital on May 7, saying they don’t have ventilator support.”

The family managed to arrange a ventilator bed in another hospital by 5 pm the same day but Wings took more than 7 hours to complete the process and only discharged her around 2 am on May 8. “They did not inform us about her condition in advance and instead gave us false hopes. They only asked us to shift her suddenly when her situation had become critical. They did not have appropriate ICU facilities which led to her deterioration. She was discharged only after paying the dues of Rs 2,50,761 for six days,” Raje told The Indian Express.

As per the bills accessed by The Indian Express, the hospitals levied Rs 15,000 per day as ICU charges along with several additional services including Rs 3,000 for food, Rs 18,000 for consult visits, Rs 39,000 for oxygen supply, Rs 6,000 for physiotherapy, Rs 20,000 for bi-pap masks for four days, Rs 12,000 as RMO (Resident Medical Officer) charges, Rs 36,000 for medicine and consumables et al. “My wife was in the ICU only for one day on May 7. I know this because we shared a room. And yet they have levied ICU charges for six days, which is fraudulent. She was active and was herself taking breakfast, lunch, dinner. She did not take any physiotherapy. One bi-Pap was used only on March 7. The whole bill is forged and fake,” explained Raje.

Raje himself has been charged Rs 78,000 for a private room, Rs 18,000 for consult visits, Rs 12,000 as RMO charges, Rs 9,000 as nursing charges et al. “The actual amount for my wife Savitri Rawat should be Rs 15,000 per day amounting to Rs 90,000 and in my case, the actual amount should have been Rs 13,000 per day amounting to Rs 78,000. We have been charged Rs 2.55 lakh in excess. The charged amount is against the order and directions issued by the Haryana Government. Wings Hospital has not only violated and willfully ignored the rules and regulations of Haryana Government and Disaster Management Act but also extracted huge amount for six days from senior citizens. An inquiry be initiated against the Hospital by auditing their bills/records and license should be ceased/cancelled and my money may please be refunded immediately,” the complainant’s e-mail read further.

Speaking on the matter, a spokesperson from the hospital told The Indian Express, “This particular family had come with high connections and had demanded a private room with ICU facilities. They also hailed from Punjab. While overcharging is never our intention, minor errors on hospital’s part are possible as this is our first time working as a Covid dedicated hospital. In this particular case bill may have been high as we had to depute separate staff, doctors as per their requirements for a separate room. As for the shifting out of patient, there are times when the prognosis is poor and we suggest the family to take a second opinion for their own satisfaction as well as patient betterment.”

Wings Hospital has been held liable by the district investigative committee in at least one other case where a patient Arun Kumar, was issued a bill of Rs 80,132 for three days. As per the show-cause notice issued to the hospital, he had been overcharged by Rs 34,132.