Patna: Gone are the days when you could trust the doctors and the hospitals to take care of you. If you are poor and want to get treatment, you better be ready to be held hostage till you pay your bills.
This was the unfortunate plight of one family, that left a 7-year-old begging on the streets to help get her mother released from the hospital’s clutches.
Lalita Devi (31) was reported to have given birth to a still-born child in the week prior. The family was presented with a bill of Rs 70,000 for the services provided, a bill which could not be payed by them. The hospital authorities of Maa Sheetla Emergency Hospital Private Limited, took matters into their own hands and refused to release the woman till the dues were paid.
The police told DNA that the woman was admitted into the care of the hospital on November 14, by an agent for medial complications that she had developed. The initial cost of the treatment was Rs 1.5 lakhs, which was then brought down to Rs 70,000. Nirdhan Ram, Devi’s husband, was told by the agent that he only needed to pay Rs 25,000, an amount which he promtly deposited.
They also added that after the surgery was completed, the doctors refused to cut the stitches and discharge Devi till the bills were paid. Her husband managed to borrow some money from their relatives to pay part of the amount, but when they came up short, their 7-year-old son took to the streets to fund the defecit.
Local media spotted the child begging on the streets and later, Madhepura MP Pappu Yadav came to the family’s rescue and got the mother released from the hospital.
An FIR was filed against the hospital and the Yadav demanded that the hospital pay Rs 10,000 to Devi and drop her home safely in an ambulance.
