Patient alleges doctors at fortis forced him to stay on as they didn't want to return the money he deposited as initial payment
Patient alleges doctors at fortis forced him to stay on as they didn't want to return the money he deposited as initial payment
What's more bitter - a doctor's pill or the bill? 27-year-old Kaushal Pathak would say it's the latter. On the morning of May 10, Kaushal fainted in his Karol Bagh office. His colleagues immediately took him to the Fortis Hospital in the neighbourhood. Kaushal was initially kept in the emergency room and according to him the hospital demanded 15,000 rupees to admit him in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Cash crunch: Kaushal Pathak, the victim, at his Shivaji Vihar residence
in west Delhi on Thursday. PIC/Rajeev Tyagi
Question of money
"They admitted me in the ICU and told my friends to deposit 15,000 rupees. They kept me there for a day. I recovered very fast so they transferred me to ward number 119 but they charged Rs 10,000 again. As I had been shifted from the ICU, I told the doctors that I was feeling better and wished to go home. But hearing this, the doctor started behaving very rudely," Kaushal told MiD DAY.
Kaushal had been told that he was suffering from hypertension. "After they shifted me from the ICU to the general ward in the morning of May 11, no doctor came to me for a check-up. My friends came to look after me in the night and they asked the doctors about my health. Finally, a doctor named Vinod Mittal came at 10.30 in night and checked my pulse. Then I asked the doctor to discharge me. He shouted and said that this was not the proper way and who would take the risk of get me discharged without the permission of the hospital? Then my friends told him that they were prepared to get me discharged at their own risk. The doctor asked me to stay for another day," the victim said. Kaushal lives with his wife in Delhi and his friends only visited him after their working hours were over. They asked the doctors about the relieving process and they told us to sign some papers.
Neglected?
"As my friends were not available in the morning of 11th the hospital staff told me to sign a relieving form. After I signed the form they completely ignored me as if I wasn't even in the hospital. Nobody took care of me for the whole day," Kaushal added. On the morning of May 12, Kaushal started wandering around in the hospital to get the formalities done. He allegedly kept running from one corner of the hospital to another from morning to afternoon, but nobody in the institute's management responded to his pleas. When he asked the hospital employees about the relieving process they allegedly told him to wait.
Pillar to post
"I left my bed in the morning of May 12 and went to the counter of the hospital. The management didn't cooperate even after I told them that I had signed the relieving forms. I ran from one counter to another to get my relieving certificate and the refund but no one from the hospital responded. Annoyed by institute's behaviour I called the PCR at 11.48am. I told the cops that the hospital administration wanted me to stay till the money deposited by me ran out. The cops then mediated and told the hospital staff to relieve me as soon as possible and refund the rest of my money. After that the management cleared my discharge. They gave me a cheque of 9000 rupees as refund. Then the cops left the hospital. The hospital staff apologised about the inconvenience," Kaushal added.
The Other Side
"Kaushal arrived at Fortis Jessaram hospital at 12.55 pm on May 10, 2011, complaining of extreme breathlessness and spasms in both hands. He was attended to immediately by the hospital's Chief Medical Officer and then by a physician consultant. Seeing his condition, Mr. Kaushal was shifted to the ICU immediately. While the patient seemed hesitant to be admitted to ICU, the acuteness of his clinical condition was a cause for urgency and he was admitted to the ICU, where treatment was started right away. (Detailed medical notes are made and maintained for each patient at Fortis hospitals and are available for scrutiny as needed). The patient was being cared for in the ICU, when he expressed his desire to leave the hospital directly from the ICU on the evening of May 11. As per hospital protocol and also in view of his condition, our doctors felt he must remain under observation for his own safety, at least for another day in the 'step-down' ward. The patient was advised accordingly and shifted to the step-down ward that evening. Next morning on May 12, he wanted to 'Leave Against Medical Advice' (LAMA), so he signed a LAMA form and left the hospital amicably. Mr. Kaushal was also refunded Rs. 9000/- , which was the excess payment from the deposit initially made by him."
- Official spokesperson, Fortis Hospital
ADVERTISEMENT
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
