Clinical establishment act needed to check Fortis-type cases: Dr Jagdish Prasad, DGHS

New Delhi: Reacting to the recent allegations of overcharging in the treatment of a patient where Fortis Gurugram Hospital charged Rs 18 lakh for 15 days ICU charges, the Directorate General Of Health Services (DGHS), Dr Jagdish Prasad recently stated such cases can be prevented if all states implement the Clinical Establishment Act.

Speaking of the Clinical Establishment Act, he said that the said act should be implemented in every state so that the government can monitor the cost of treatment and regulate their prices.

"If this act had been implemented in every state, then such incidents would not have happened. Even in the Fortis case if the state would have implemented, then we could have regulated it and this case would not have happened,"Dr Prasad told IANS

Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that the Gurugram Branch of Fortis Hospitals has now found itself mired in controversies  after a tweet by relative of a deceased 7- year old girl went viral of social media. The tweet highlighted how the hospital had charged a massive Rs 18 lakh bill for the treatment of the deceased child

Read also: Fortis Hospital bills Rs 18 lakh for 15 days dengue treatment, Nadda seeks report

Later intervening in the case, the health ministry asked the Haryana government to take "exemplary" action against Fortis if "overcharging, negligence or malfeasance" was established in the case of the dengue patient.

Read also: Haryana govt to probe Fortis case; Hospital says no overcharging

The Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010 has been enacted by the Central Government to provide for registration and regulation of all clinical establishments in the country with a view to prescribing the minimum standards of facilities and services provided by them.