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Bombay High Court directs BMC to investigate alleged lapses in J K Somaiya Hospital


Bombay High Court directs BMC to investigate alleged lapses in J K Somaiya Hospital
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A petition was recently filed by a COVID-19 positive family consisting of seven people from Bharat Nagar, Bandra (East) against K J Somaiya Hospital at Sion over alleged overcharging of patients. In response, the Bombay High Court bench consisting of Justices Madhav Jamdar and Ramesh Dhanuka passed an order asking the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) to investigate the matter by launching a formal inquiry into the hospital.

The COVID-19 family that was treated at the hospital saw a bill of Rs 12.5 lakh for hospitalization between April 11 to 28. After the hospital threatened to discharged the family, they managed to pay Rs 10 lakh by taking loans from friends and relatives. 

“At that time, the petitioners were under tremendous tension and feared death due to this deadly virus infection... This fear of the petitioners was commercialized by hospital officials,” their petition mentioned.

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The advocate for the affected family, Vivek Shukla, argued that the hospital had been taking advantage of its position as a charitable hospital. Under these norms, the hospital is required to provide at least 10% of beds for underprivileged patients.

The petition specified that most of the charges on the exorbitant bill were for doctors’ visits, medicines, and personal protective equipment kits (PPE) used by health officials around COVID-19 patients. The petition has demanded that they receive a refund for the overages while asking the court to take action against the hospital for its alleged lapses.

In response, the court has asked K J Somaiya Hospital if it had 10% of beds allotted for those who cannot afford it, particularly during the COVID-19 crisis. The court has also sought details on whether other patients were overcharged similarly by the hospital. 

The BMC and the state government will now have to acknowledge if the hospital was covered by the 10% quota for poor patients. The goal here is to find out if there were lapses or deficiencies in the hospital’s functioning which may have unjustly impacted the needy and underprivileged.

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