WBCERC directs AMRI Hospital to refund over Rs 40000

Kolkata: In a series of orders passed by West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC), AMRI Hospital Mukundapur has been directed to refund money for several cases.

In one case, the hospital have been directed to refund an amount of Rs 40,110 to the family members of a patient, Uttam Bhora (89), a Covid positive patient who died in the hospital on May 8 after he was admitted on the 27th of April.

The WBCERC found that the hospital did not follow the rate chart fixed by the commission. The hospital charged an amount of Rs 6 lakh as bill out of which Rs 84,720 was taken as investigation charges. The commission concluded that the patient was charged exorbitantly under this head.

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An amount of Rs 13,000 was charged to the patient as ICU cost in addition to an extra amount charged for several routine procedures which should have been included under the ICU charge, reports Millenium Post.

Meanhwhile, in another order, the same hospital has been asked to return an amount of Rs 4,000 to a patient Subhabrata Basak (29) because of charging exorbitant bill. The patient was brought to the hospital after a fever, where he was kept at the emergency isolation for around over 12 hours without being admitted. The patient was charged an amount of Rs 44,000 for a number of tests conducted on him during his stay at the hospital. The WBCERC raised the rationality of conducting so many tests other than Covid, and thus expressed its dissatisfaction with the functioning of the hospital.

The Commission, in another order directed the hospital to provide a discount to Bimalendu Pal, whose wife, Shila Pal (74) was a patient at the hospital and died on July 1 this year due to multi-organ failure following Covid. The bill charged was Rs 15 lakh, which the commission found to be charged excessively on the patient's family.

In another case, a patient Niladri Sekhar Majumdar complained that the hospital demanded Rs 6,240 for extracting a tooth, due to which the commission asked the hospital to consider the cost of the same.

Talking about the orders passed, Rupak Barua, Group CEO, AMRI Hospitals, told the daily, "In some cases it seems the complaints are being accepted in an arbitrary manner and even the most insignificant grievances are being given undue importance. Today four of the seven cases have been dismissed, which could have been done even before these were set up for hearing. As for the fines imposed in other cases, we will look into the details and take action as necessary."

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