The Haryana government on Wednesday said a three-member committee that was formed to probe the case of overcharging at Fortis Hospital in Gurugram had found several irregularities. The minister said that the state government would ask Haryana Urban Development Authority to cancel the hospital's land operating lease.
Fortis Hospital had charged the family of a seven-year-old child who died of dengue nearly Rs 16 lakh for being treated there in September.
State Health Minister Anil Vij said that the hospital had not followed the standard protocols and several irregularities were found in the matter. The hospital had overcharged the parents of the seven-year-old victim, Adya Singh, he said. For instance, the probe found that the platelets that were administered to Singh were billed differently—in 25 instances, they were billed at Rs 400 per unit, and in eight instances, they were charged Rs 2,000 per unit.
The hospital's blood bank licence will be revoked because of overcharging for platelets, Vij announced at a press conference in Chandigarh.
The minister also said that the Haryana government would be writing to the Medical Council of India to probe the matter, and an FIR would be registered. Fortis also failed to report the dengue case to the state Health Department, for which they have been served a notice.
The case of Adya Singh, whose family was charged a whopping Rs 15.79 lakh for the treatment—the final bill included 660 syringes and 1,600 gloves—had come to light when Singh's father's batchmate had tweeted about the medical negligence and overcharging on part of the hospital.
The ensuing outrage in the media led the Centre to take note of the incident. Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare J.P. Nadda sought a report on the incident and said that necessary action would be taken in the matter.
Following Nadda's comments, Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan also asked the state Health Department in Chandigarh to initiate an inquiry in the case. In a letter to the principal secretary of department, Sudan, citing media reports about the case, asked for an 'urgent inquiry' and promised 'exemplary action' in case any 'overcharging, negligence or malfeasance' was found on part of the hospital.
