Seven-year-old Adya died of dengue after 15 days in Fortis Gurugram. Friends of her family say hospital charged them Rs 18 lakh, hospital says it was Rs 15.79 lakh.
New Delhi: The death of seven-year-old Adya at the Fortis Memorial Research Institute in Gurugram has sparked a fresh debate on the cost and quality of private medical care in India.
Adya was suffering from dengue and died after 15 days in the paediatric ICU, but her parents were charged a large sum. While friends of the family claim the amount was Rs 18 lakh, the hospital says it was Rs 15.79 lakh.
The controversy has also brought the focus back on government medical facilities, with Union healthminister J.P. Nadda taking cognisance of the issue and promising “necessary action”.
Adya’s father, Jayant Singh, says he’s planning to take legal action against Fortis.
“When the hospital asked me to pay so much, I was trying to help my family cope with the loss of our child. I couldn’t think at the time, so I paid the bill through credit cards. My only concern was to see my child healthy. It is my friends who took notice of the carelessness and the exaggerated amount we were charged,” Singh told ThePrint.
Singh said the government has not got in touch with him so far.
How the spotlight fell on the case
The case hit the headlines after a friend of Singh, entrepreneur Devant Shah, tweeted about it. “One of my batchmate’s 7 year old was in @fortis_hospital for 15 days for Dengue. Billed 18 lakhs including for 2700 gloves. She passed away at the end of it…” Shah (@DopeFloat) had tweeted.
In a series of tweets along with copies of the bills, Shah alleged that the hospital refused to release the patient after the family disagreed to further diagnosis, and made them sign a ‘leave-against-medical-advice’ form. Adya succumbed while being shifted to another hospital from Fortis.
Shah clarified that at no point did he or Singh say that Fortis “killed” Adya, but that he wanted to share the sheer apathy the parents faced.
“The final hospital declared the girl brought dead, thus apparently helping Fortis absolve their duties. As a closing stroke, after the family cleared the massive bills, Fortis asked the family to go back and pay for the gown the kid was wearing since her clothes won’t fit,” Shah tweeted.
Hospital denies allegations, gets IMA support
Fortis Healthcare Limited has refuted the allegations, stating that all standard medical protocols were followed in treating the patient, and all clinical guidelines were adhered to.
The Indian Medical Association has come out in support of the hospital, with its national president, Dr K.K. Aggarwal, saying “if the parents could not afford it, why did they choose a private hospital instead of a government hospital?”
Suggesting that Fortis could be brought to book only if it failed to give the parents daily updates about the charges, or charged above the regular hospital rates, Aggarwal said: “If the parents conveyed to the hospital that they could not afford the bill, it is the duty of the hospital to shift the patient to the government hospital.”
He said medical ethics play a role only in case of emergency, and not otherwise.
“That’s why everyone should have insurance, so that it can come to the rescue of the patients,” Aggarwal said.
Rana Dasgupta’s book, Capital, had a whole chapter on how corporate hospitals have become unduly commercial, to the detriment of patients, as appears to have happened in the present case. There are also stories relating to malpractices concerning organ transplant. To say, Let them go to government hospitals or buy insurance has a Marie Antoinette feel to it. The fact that an institution is for – profit is not a licence to fleece people who are in distress. The government – and this is not normally a good thing – will have to step in.