E-Paper
Top court asks hospital to consider waiving bills for Covid-19 patient
The Court also expressed satisfaction on the improving condition of the patient and asked the hospital to inform whether a lung transplant surgery would be necessary.
The Supreme Court on Friday asked Secunderabad-based hospital Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) Limited to consider waiving unpaid bills running up to ₹14 lakh of a man fully on lung support after his wife had approached the top court for financial support.
The woman Sheela Mehra, a resident of Madhya Pradesh, had spent more than ₹one crore on treating her husband, Manish Kumar Gohiya since he contracted Covid-19 and was diagnosed with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) on May 14. With his lungs completely damaged, he was brought to KIMS Hospital on July 7 and placed with an ECMO machine, expanded as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine, which acts as an artificial lung to support life.
Mehra in her petition filed through advocate Krishna Kumar Singh demanded a sum of ₹one crore to arrange for a lung transplant operation that was estimated to cost her nearly ₹55 lakh.
Earlier this week, the Court had asked the 31-year-old woman to serve a copy of her petition to KIMS Hospital realizing there was little that they could do in this regard, considering that the petitioner had no legal right to seek assistance from the PM Cares Fund, PM Relief Fund or the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. Already, the petitioner had been provided ₹5 lakh out of the central welfare funds.
Appearing for the hospital, advocate Shrinivas Rao informed the Court that the condition of the patient was improving and there was a possibility that he may not require a transplant. He informed the Court that as on date, the petitioner had an outstanding amount of ₹14 lakh towards treatment cost.
The bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose said, “We are not going to issue any order but ask the hospital to consider if they can waive anything. See if they can be generous in this regard.” The Court posted the matter for Monday to enable the lawyer to take instructions and report to the Court.
The Court also expressed satisfaction on the improving condition of the patient and asked the hospital to inform whether a lung transplant surgery would be necessary.
Gohiya was admitted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhopal after he was detected with Covid-19 and was shifted in an air ambulance on June 2 to Hyderabad-based Yashoda Hospital where a CT scan revealed that his lungs had suffered 100 per cent damage. He required ECMO machine to survive and the only hospital that had one was KIMS Hospital. He was shifted to KIMS on July 7 and his family incurred a daily expense of ₹1.5 lakh to keep him going on ECMO support.
Taking note of the plight of the petitioner, the bench had asked the Centre to consider providing an ECMO machine at a hospital in every district. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Centre, agreed to take up this suggestion with the Union Health Minister and get back to the Court.
