Delhi govt forms panel to cap profit of private hospitals from sale of medicines

Delhi is yet to adopt the Clinical Establishment Act passed by Parliament which aims to achieve the same objective. Delhi health minister said the law is likely to be in place as the Delhi Health Act in two months’ time.

The Delhi government on Wednesday constituted a nine-member committee to formulate norms capping the profit margin of private hospitals in the city.

The committee will establish norms for the maximum profit that a hospital can make on the sale of medicines and investigations. (Photo for representation)

The committee will establish norms for the maximum profit that a hospital can make on the sale of medicines and investigations. The committee will also recommend behavioural protocols for hospital staff.

The committee will be headed by Delhi’s director general of health services and will also include senior doctors from the Delhi Medical Council and Delhi Medical Council and the national president of India Medical Association Dr KK Agarwal, according to the health minister.

The committee has been asked to submit its report by the end of the month.

The move comes after allegations of overcharging and negligence against four private hospitals in NCR.

Recently, the licence of Max hospital, Shalimar Bagh, was cancelled after the government found it negligent in wrongly declaring newborn dead. Fortis Memorial Research Institute was accused of overcharging in the treatment of 7-year-old dengue patient, when an amount of Rs 16 lakhs was charged for 15-day treatment. Fortis hospital, Noida was accused of overcharging when a farmer was asked to pay Rs 1 lakh for the treatment of his daughter who died within four hours of admission. In case of BL Kapur hospital, a family has alleged that the body of their child who had undergone a bone-marrow transplant was not released till the dues of Rs 9 lakh was paid.

“Single doctor run clinics will not be covered under our law, that’s the big difference from the central law,” Jain disclosed.