I have heard people getting sick and treatments are also done, but never have I heard a bill amounting to lakhs of money charged just for dengue! Yes, its true, a little girl named Adya who is seven years old died of dengue and the fortis hospital did not allow her parents to take her body until they paid a bill of rs 17 lakhs. Isnt that crazy?!
I am seriously wondering how is it even possible for the amount to reach in lakhs?! A few thousands can be understood but this is insane. Apparently, the family resides in South West Delhi ( Dwarka) and their daughter was suffering from dengue and she was admitted to the hospital on 31st August and she died on 14th September. It seems that the hospital had kept the little girl in the ventilator for three days even though she had stopped responding to the treatment.
Sadly she passed away, but the charge sheet was too painful to handle. So, a family friend immediately took pictures of the bill and shared it on twitter. He captioned saying, “One of my batchmate’s 7 year old was in @fortis_hospital for 15 days for Dengue. Billed 18 lakhs including for 2700 gloves. She passed away at the end of it…” read the tweet by D@DopeFloat
More facts since people asked for it. Read thread and see snaps.
1. Charged for a whopping 660 syringes. They pumped a 7 year old with an average of ~40 syringes a day. Parents kept insisting on MRI/CT Scan to check if she was even alive since she was on ventilator since day 5 pic.twitter.com/NvZKQgp9Pj
— D🔭 (@DopeFloat) November 19, 2017
Sugar strips – available at INR 13/strip on (Tada!) – Fortis Healthcare Website – billed at INR 200 per strip. pic.twitter.com/TpNMvYtINh
— D🔭 (@DopeFloat) November 19, 2017
Started with Meropenem at INR 500 per strip, then realized the family is not protesting much, so pumped up to another brand at 7 times the price. pic.twitter.com/092fUXL12P
— D🔭 (@DopeFloat) November 19, 2017
Since the post has gone viral, the health minister has promised action in response to such a hideous bill that is extremely shocking.
Please provide me details on [email protected] .We will take all the necessary action. https://t.co/dq273L66cK
— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) November 20, 2017
Adya’s father Jayant Singh told news agency ANI: “I want to appeal for an investigation and if any changes are required in the laws, they should be made. We would not like other people to suffer like we did.”Fortis hospital, in a statement, claimed that “all standard medical protocols were followed in treating the patient and all clinical guidelines were adhered to”.
The hospital said: “She was admitted with Severe Dengue which progressed to Dengue shock syndrome and was managed on IV fluids and supportive treatment as there was a progressive fall in platelet count and hemoconcentration. As her condition deteriorated, she had to be put on ventilatory support within 48 hours.”
The hospital claimed that on September 14, the family decided to “take her away from the hospital against medical advice (LAMA – Leave Against Medical Advice) and she succumbed the same day.”
Replying to the charge of billing the parents for gloves, the hospital said, “an itemised bill spread over 20 pages was explained and handed over to the family…Treatment during these 15 days included mechanical ventilation, high frequency ventilation, continuous renal replacement therapy, intravenous antibiotics, inotropes, sedation and analgesia. A Care of ventilated patients in ICU requires a high number of consumables as per globally accepted infection control protocols. All consumables are transparently reflected in records and charged as per actuals.”
This issue is highly insensitive and it is maddening as well.
