VIJAYAWADA: Director general (Vigilance and Enforcement) KV Rajendranath Reddy has said raids were conducted on 15 hospitals across the state to check whether they were following the government guidelines with respect to Covid-19 treatment, and criminal cases were booked against nine of them for violations.
In a press statement on Wednesday, Rajendranath Reddy said flying squads, comprising officials from Vigilance, Drugs Control and Health departments, raided these hospitals on Tuesday and Wednesday.During the raids, the officials found that the erring hospitals were indulging in irregularities such as overcharging patients, not offering treatment under Aarogyasri, selling Remdesivir in black market, and admitting Covid-19 patients sans approval from the government.
He said criminal cases under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Drugs and Cosmetics Act, and Disaster Management Act had been filed against 37 private hospitals in the state so far for flouting the rules. In Vijayawada, Sri Ram Hospitals was found to be admitting Covid patients without official permission, and forcing them to buy Remdesivir.
In another case, a doctor was booked for running a Covid Care Centre without permission under the sections 188, 420 and 269 of IPC and section 51 (B) of the Disaster Management Act.In Visakhapatnam, SR Hospital, Anil Neerukonda Bhimili Hospital and Ramya Hospital were booked for misappropriation of Remdesivir vials, collecting excess treatment charges, and providing Covid treatment illegally under the sections 188, 420 and 269 of IPC and section 51 (B) of the Disaster Management Act.
Similarly, Viswas Hospital in Guntur, Chaitra Hospital in Eluru, Prasad Hospital in Piler of Chittoor district and Aasha Hospital in Anantapur were found to be charging more than the prescribed rates for Covid treatment.
The director general (vigilance) further informed that the offending hospitals were penalised by the health department as a warning, and reiterated that the Vigilance would not hesitate to arrest the administrations if they were caught committing the offense for the second time.
