BENGALURU: Puttena halli police have filed a case against the management of Apollo Hospital, Bannerghatta Road, under the Disaster Management Act for allegedly cheating the BBMP, by manipulating the data of Covid patients, and also extorting Rs 2.4 lakh from the family of a deceased Covid patient. Based on a complaint by medical officer Dr Nagendra Kumar S, an FIR has been registered against hospital CEO Davidson; Dr Kalpana, operational head; Shanta and Sahana, medical superintendents; and Chandana and Manjula, members of Apollo Hospital Arogya Mitra team, charging them under the Disaster Management Act for cheating, and Section 188 (disobedience of order promolgated by public servant) of IPC.
The police said that Dr Nagendra Kumar from Bommanhalli zone conducted surprise inspection on Sunday and came to know that the hospital management was denying admission to Covid patients by continuing to update the SAST portal with fake admission details, even after admitted patients had been discharged a few days earlier.
The medical officer also learnt that the hospital was giving false information and misguiding the government by denying treatment to Covid patients during medical emergencies. Dr Nagendra Kumar was shocked to learn about three patients, identified as Kashinath (71), Rajarao (79) and Surya Narayan Shetty (73), who were admitted to the hospital under BBMP reference. While Shetty was admitted on April 14 and discharged on April 20, the hospital continued to update the portal as ‘admitted’, instead of ‘discharged’. Similarly, Rajarao was admitted to the hospital on April 16, but had succumbed on April 20.
The hospital allegedly forced his kin to pay Rs 2.4 lakh, while continuing to update the portal as ‘admitted’. The third case, Kashinath, was admitted on April 17 and discharged on April 22. But the hospital again continued to maintain the app as on April 25 as ‘admitted’. Using the same modus operandi, the hospital is alleged to have not only cheated patients, their families and the government, but also denied treatment to deserving Covid patients. When TNIE contacted the hospital, no spokesperson was available for comment.