Fleecing of patients: HC asks Maha govt to spell out mechanism

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Sarang Kotwal was hearing a public interest litigation filed by advocate Abhijeet Mangade citing that some private hospitals in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane district were overcharging patients for ancillary items such as PPE kits, gloves and N95 masks. The petitioner stated that his mother was admitted to Jupiter Hospital in Thane for seven days in June for non- COVID-19 treatment and he was charged Rs 72,806 for PPE kits and other items.

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday asked the Maharashtra government if it has a regulatory mechanism to ensure that private hospitals and nursing homes don't overcharge for PPE kits and other ancillary items and "fleece" patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Sarang Kotwal was hearing a public interest litigation filed by advocate Abhijeet Mangade citing that some private hospitals in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane district were overcharging patients for ancillary items such as PPE kits, gloves and N95 masks.

The petitioner stated that his mother was admitted to Jupiter Hospital in Thane for seven days in June for non- COVID-19 treatment and he was charged Rs 72,806 for PPE kits and other items. Mangade also referred to another incident where a patient was charged over Rs 16,000 for a period of three days for PPE kits and other items by Punamiya Hospital, a nursing home at Dadar in central Mumbai.

Additional government pleader Nisha Mehra told the court that the state government had on May 21, issued a resolution capping hospital bed charges and cost of other items. The bench then sought to know how the government was keeping a tab on such hospitals and nursing homes.

"Is there any regulatory mechanism? During this pandemic, patients should not be fleeced by hospitals," Chief Justice Datta said. The court further noted that by charging each patient for a PPE kit, a box of gloves or masks, the hospital must be profiting.

"It is not that the PPE kit or a box of gloves is used for one patient only. It must be used for other patients too. But by charging each patient the price of the whole kit or the whole box, the hospital is profiting," Chief Justice Datta said. The court directed the state government and the two hospitals to file their affidavits responding to the petition and posted the matter for further hearing on August 7.