Kolkata: Health panel gives Rs 3 lakh bill relief to Covid victim’s kin

KOLKATA: A compensation of Rs 3 lakh was awarded on ‘humanitarian ground’ to the family of an

ophthalmologist

who succumbed to Covid in August after being treated at a private hospital that had slapped a huge bill. Responding to an appeal by the daughter of the ophthalmologist — Biswajit Mandal, a resident of Icchapore — the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) observed that the patient’s kin were eligible for a refund of Rs 3 lakh, out of a total bill of Rs 16.2 lakh that they had paid.

The commission on Wednesday heard nine other cases and ordered several hospitals to refund excess bill amounts.

Biswajit’s daughter Ayantika, in an appeal to the commission, said she had no allegations of overbilling, but sought a discount on humanitarian ground. “She had referred to the case of another doctor —

Pradipta Bhattacharya

of

Shyamnagar

— who, like her father, contracted Covid while treating patients and died. In Bhattacharya’s case, not only did the hospital offer a discount, friends and neighbours had paid a part of the bill through crowdfunding. So, we sought the treatment details from the hospital and ruled that

Fortis Hospital

— where Biswajit was treated — to pay Rs 3 lakh to the family,” said WBCERC chairman Justice (retd) Ashim Kumar Banerjee.

In another case, the commission penalized Mission of Mercy Hospital, asking it to pay Rs 8 lakh to a patient’s kin for death due to negligence. A woman who had been admitted to the hospital in 2018, had collapsed on the toilet floor and lay there unattended for half-an-hour. She was later taken to the ICU but died. Her husband Manoj Choudhury demanded a compensation and the commission found negligence on the part of the hospital.

Ruby General Hospital was asked to refund Rs 50,000 to a patient who had been treated at the hospital last October. Patient Partha Mitra had alleged that his bed charges were inflated and the condition of his ward was poor. The hospital charged the patient Rs 2.5 lakh, out of which the latter had received Rs 81,000 from insurance cover.

The commission also asked for experts’ opinion on a charge of negligence levelled against Disha Eye Care by a patient who lost his vision after treatment. Behala resident Munmun Ghoshalleged that her 60-year-old husband Sanjay was administered an injection at the hospital, which led to an infection. It eventually resulted in complete loss of vision. “We have deferred our judgment till we get the experts’ opinion,” said Justice Banerjee.

In three other cases, the commission asked Eco Hospital, Barasat, ILS,

Dum Dum

and Spandan Hospital to offer discounts to disgruntled patients.