E-Paper
Zirakpur hospital owner booked for fleecing Covid victim’s kin
The Mohali district administration has also constituted a medical board to determine the extent of lapses in management
A day after a three-member committee found a Zirakpur hospital guilty of overcharging and medical negligence, a case has been registered against its owner. The district administration has also constituted a medical board to determine the extent of medical negligence.
The owner of New Lifeline Hospital, Dr Manish Goyal, has been booked under Sections 269 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), 270 (Malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 51 (b), 58 of the Disaster Management Act, and Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act.
An inquiry was marked against the private hospital after a deceased patient’s family alleged overcharging and denial to hand over the body without clearance of bills. The patient, Paramjit Singh, was suffering from severe pneumonia due to Covid-19 when he was admitted to the hospital on April 26; he died on May 14. In its report, the committee had stated that there were incidences of overcharging and grave lapses in the medical record management by the hospital authorities.
Deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan said that directions had been given to all private hospitals to prominently display the Covid-19 treatment charges as capped by the Punjab government.
The hospitals have also been advised to exhibit the name of the nodal officer for grievance redressal by patients’ family/attendant, the DC added.
Dayalan informed that very stringent action under the Epidemic Diseases Act would be taken against erring hospitals, and that the government was empowered to shut down the facility or take control over it, if need be.
The nodal officers for grievance redressal in the district are the sub-divisional magistrates of the respective sub-divisions: Himanshu Jain (9533502245) for Kharar, Kuldeep Bawa (9815711006) for Dera Bassi and Jagdeep Sehgal (8727856083) for Mohali.
The treatment charges for tertiary care (L3) in private medical colleges and hospitals without a ventilator and with a ventilator (invasive/non-invasive) for moderate to very sick patients range from ₹10,000 to ₹18,000. For details, the copy of the orders issued by Punjab government can be found at http://sasnagr.nic.in/.
