BENGALURU: Members of the Human Rights Anti-Corruption Bureau staged a silent protest outside St Philomena’s Hospital along with the family of a Covid patient who was charged an exorbitant amount for treatment, on Saturday.
Hospital authorities refused to let the patient Priya be discharged over non-payment of the bill amounting to Rs 7.4 lakh. Priya was admitted 21 days back after catching the virus from her husband Andrew, a painter.
“When we first tried to get Priya admitted at Philomena’s, we were quoted a bill of a lakh, which we couldn’t afford. Authorities asked us to pay what we had — Rs 10,000 and then Rs 35,000 that we borrowed,” said Andrew.
They had initially gone to KC General Hospital, where they were turned away due to a shortage of beds.
On being given the Rs 7.4 lakh bill, the family was shocked and struggled to put together Rs 2.5 lakh over the course of the treatment, but the hospital refused to let her go until the entire amount was cleared.
Priya’s uncle then approached the bureau, which negotiated with the hospital.
Santosh Kumar, general secretary of the bureau, said, “We negotiated with the hospital all day, after which they released her for a lakh.”
He added that he requested the hospital to give concessions to the poor, or the matter will be taken up with Minister Dr K Sudhakar.