The Bombay high court on Thursday has asked corporate companies to consider allotting 2 per cent of their profits towards paying hospital bills of patients who cannot afford to pay it.
The Bombay high court on Thursday has asked corporate companies to consider allotting 2 per cent of their profits towards paying hospital bills of patients who cannot afford to pay it. The court suggested this while hearing a petition seeking action against the staff of Seven Hills Hospital for confining petitioner’s brother owing to dispute over medical bills.
Meanwhile government pleader Mankuvar Deshmukh informed the court that the government is planning to come out with a law ‘Maharashtra Clinical Establishment (Registration and Regulations) Act’ by which charges levied for medical treatments in both government and private hospitals will be regularised.
The division bench of Justice V.M. Kanade and Justice Revati Mohite-Dere was hearing petition filed by Sanjay Prajapati requesting the court to direct the city police to initiate action against doctors and staff of Seven Hills Hospital for wrongfully confining his brother over a disputed medical bill.
The bench on Thursday suggested companies, which sets aside funds towards it Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to consider giving two per cent of its profits towards payment of hospital bills where the patient is poor and not in a position to pay. The judges said that this would serve a dual purpose. The judges explained that the patients and their family get help and the hospital also gets its fees.
The court has posted the petition for further hearing after two weeks. Earlier, the court had termed detaining a patient over unpaid bills as inhuman.
Prajapati claimed that his brother Chinku suffered head injuries after a fall at home on March 29, 2014, and was admitted to Seven Hills Hospital where doctors operated upon him. Later he wrote to the CEO alleging improper treatment and bogus billings, but got no response. Finding no improvement in his brother’s condition, he decided to shift him elsewhere but the hospital refused to discharge him till the disputed bills were cleared.
According to Prajapati, of a total bill of Rs 4.56 lakh, Rs 2.76 lakh was deposited and according to the hospital, a balance of Rs 1.8 lakh was payable.
