Private hospital charges Rs 19 lakh for treatment of deceased Covid-19 patient in Tamil Nadu

A private hospital in Perumanallur, Tamil Nadu, has allegedly charged Rs 19.05 lakh for the treatment of a Covid-19 patient who died on May 25, after 23 days of suffering from the infection.

The deceased’s two sons, Harikrishnan and Karthikeyan, filed a petition to the Tiruppur District Collector, demanding action against the hospital for allegedly charging them Rs 19.05 lakh for the treatment without any receipt.

Collector K Vijaya Karthikeyan told The New Indian Express, “We have received the petition and I have asked the Joint Director of Health Services to launch an inquiry on the same.”

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62-year-old, M Subramanium was admitted to the hospital when his Covid-19 infection was reportedly mild. After five days, his condition started deteriorating and he was shifted to the ICU. In the petition, it was mentioned that the doctors charged Rs 40,000 per dose of Remdesivir, the publication reported.

Later, his health improved with oxygen support and the doctors claimed that he could be discharged upon improvement. However, Subramanium complained of breathing difficulty on May 24. The doctors informed his sons to shift the patient to another hospital in three hours, due to the unavailability of oxygen at their hospital.

He died the next day as the new hospital did not have any Non-Invasive Ventilation. After the death of the patient, the first hospital allegedly charged Rs 19.05 lakh to them without any receipt of the treatment.