City hospital hands over body to kin after BBMP intervention
City hospital hands over body to kin after BBMP intervention (Representative Image)
Bengaluru: Though private hospitals have been directed to not to hold the bodies of Covid patients over pending bills, the cases of blatant violations of order are coming to light at frequent intervals.
On Saturday night, Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Hospital reportedly refused to hand over the body of a 70-year-old Maqbool Jaan who died after a long battle with Covid. Jaan was admitted to the hospital on May 19 in the isolation ward and then moved to the ICU under the government quota. The total bill came to Rs 3,67,753, but the hospital insisted that the family pay Rs 1,30,253 more for expensive antibiotics given to the patient.
Though the government notification clearly said that the cost is inclusive of all the drugs. Remdesivir is being provided by the government for the patients referred by it. However, the hospital was adamant that these drugs were not covered under the government quota.
It was only after the intervention of the BBMP and volunteers from Emergency Response Team (ERT) that the body was released.