Mumbai: 11 including employees of hospital arrested for referring patients to private labs

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As many as 11 persons including a few employees of the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai have been arrested for allegedly referring cancer patients to private laboratories for commission, police said on Wednesday, reported the PTI.

The hospital, which comes under the purview of the Department of Atomic Energy, is known for advanced cancer treatment and research and gets patients from across the country.

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Some employees asked the patients to get diagnostic scans done at private imaging centres and laboratories, telling them that there was a long waiting period for scans in the hospital, said a police official.

The accused included an assistant administrative officer, wardboy, aaya, servant and cleaning staff.

They allegedly received commission from the private labs whose rates are higher than those at the hospital, a Mumbai Police official said.

The accused, thus, cheated the patients as well as the government to the tune of lakhs of rupees, he said.

Based on a complaint filed by a hospital official, a First Information Report was registered against 21 persons including an employee of a private laboratory on July 16 at Bhoiwada police station and 11 persons were arrested. Further probe is on.

An official said, the security guards at Parel's Tata Memorial Hospital have busted a racket where staffers would refer cancer patients to a private diagnostics centre to undergo tests that are subsidised at the government facility. Two ward boys were recently caught accepting Rs 3 lakh from the centre's manager for their services.

The incident came to light on the evening of July 15 when security guards posted at the hospital by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) witnessed the exchange of money. The cash was apparently dues for a week's services. It was allegedly handed out on Saturday as the hospital's OPD is shut on the weekend. The commission would range between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 4 lakh depending upon the flow of the patients, according to the police.

The authorities are on the lookout for others and are investigating whether doctors are involved in the racket. According to cops, the security guards had received a tip-off about a deal between an employee of Infinity Imaging Centre and certain ward boys. The guards followed the duo who left the hospital premises and waited for someone near a government hospital.

(with PTI inputs)