West Bengal Hospital slapped Rs 5 lakh fine for denying treatment

Kolkata: Cracking a whip on a Kolkata-based private hospital, West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) on Monday instructed Midland Nursing Home to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the family of a young patient who passed away after being denied treatment in 2020.

The patient was an 18-year-old who had a high temperature when his parents rushed him to the facility. However, he had to go from one facility to another and his parents had to go on a hunger strike before he could finally get admitted to the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital.

Justice (retired) Ashim Banerjee, the chairperson of WBCERC said the parent was first taken to ESI Hospital in Kamarhati, which referred the patient to Midland Nursing Home. The complainant alleged that Midland Hospital did not accept the patient they had to wait on the road. They took the help of Belghoria Police and finally, a staff came outside and collected the sample of the patient. The hospital then informed us that the patient was COVID-positive.

The hospital allegedly refused to provide any initial treatment to the patient. After being denied treatment there, the family went back to ESI Hospital, which sent the youth back to Midland. The parents then took their son to the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, where, too, he was not admitted. His parents then had to go on a hunger strike outside the hospital premises. Finally, in the evening, he was admitted to the hospital and he eventually passed away.

ESI Hospital and the medical college are run by the government. " As ESI Hospital and Calcutta Medical College and Hospital don't come under our purview, we summoned Midland Hospital after receiving the complaint. On 10th Sep 2020, we asked the hospital to deposit Rs 5L separately till the final order arrives and we also provided it time to submit a response to the allegation," stated Mr Banerjee.

He added, "In 2021 the hospital went to High Court challenging the order and the court withheld the judgment of WBCERC. On 15th March 2021, we learned about the High Court decision and reserved the judgment. Finally, this year High Court provided its order regarding the case and referred it back to WBCERC. We have called both parties for the court session. After considering the submissions of both parties, we have asked the hospital to pay 5L as compensation to the patient's family." 

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