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Hospitals have become shops, Bombay high court says

Most hospitals have become shops, said the HC on Friday, decrying the alleged refusal by Marol's SevenHills Hospital to release a patient over non-payment of bills.

A division bench of Justice V M Kanade and Justice P D Kode heard a petition by Sanjay Prajapati for directing the police to get his brother Chinku discharged, saying the hospital had refused to do so until pending bills are paid up. He also urged action against the hospital's doctors and staff. Prajapati had disputed the pending bill, calling it erroneous.

Public prosecutor Sandeep Shinde told the HC that after operating on the patient in March, he was kept at the hospital for post-operative care due to lack of nursing care at home. "The hospital is willing to discharge him now," he said.

The hospital's advocate said the allegations are false and the petition "filed simply because the petitioner has no money to pay the dues". He added, "It is the patient who is not going home. We are ready to discharge him today.''

Prajapati's advocate Diwakar Dwivedi said his client wanted to shift Chinku to another hospital. "They were not allowing him to be taken away."

The judges have directed Prajapati to join the Medical Council of India and Maharashtra Medical Council as parties "to come and tell the court how this should be resolved". They also asked the Association of Hospitals to be impleaded. The judges said even if the matter is over, the court will go into the issue and lay down guidelines. The judges said that public hospitals too behave in a similar manner. The hospital gave an undertaking that Chinku would be discharged during the course of the day.

But till late in the evening, the family was yet to take the patient home. CEO of SevenHills Hospital Anand Garg said discharge formalities had been completed. "They may be making arrangements to take him. Everything is clear from our side," Garg said. The matter will be heard after two weeks.

Article referred: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Hospitals-have-become-shops-Bombay-high-court-says/articleshow/36505651.cms

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