Najma Alam Khan brought back home in a vegetative state after a famous Mumbai hospital finally waives off ‘unfair’ medical bill
Najma Alam Khan, who has been in a coma for the past 6 years
Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital on Monday, agreed to waive off the Rs. 8 crore-bill that was presented to the family of Najma Alam Khan, for her six-year stay at the hospital, following a botched up hysterectomy, that also left her comatose.
Najma, who belongs to the Golconda Cigarette Factory family, was flown home to Hyderabad after the hospital administration finally decided to waive off the bill they had prepared for her husband, after a very long court battle.
Najma was left in a vegetative state due to wrongful administration of anesthesia before the surgery. That was in 2008 and Najma, a mother of three was 42 years old at the time. Though the hospital agreed that it was at fault, it kept charging the family, over and over, for treatment, medicines and her room at the hospital.
In fact, the hospital drew up the final bill of Rs. 8 crore when husband, Mahmood Alam Khan, decided to take Najma home to Hyderabad. Over the years, the hospital had continued to bill the family for Najma’s care, but they had refused to pay citing that her condition was the doctor’s fault.
In 2011, officials at Lilavati had drawn up a bill of Rs. 3 crore, which sent all of Mumbai’s media into a tizzy.
But after fighting it out for six years, both parties decided to settle the matter after they realised that Najma’s condition was not improving. Her husband brought Najma back to Hyderabad on Saturday.
While Mahmood Alam Khan was unavailable for comment, his brother Mohammed Alam Khan said, “It was unfair on the hospital’s part to even give us a bill in the first place. It was due to the negligence of the doctor that Najma ended up in a vegetative state.”
He added, “Before the surgery, they had promised us that she would walk out just like she had walked in.”
And when asked if they had any plans to sue the hospital, he said, “What is the use of filing a case, will the damage be undone?”
The doctor responsible for the botch-up was found dead soon after the surgery. The police had suspected suicide at the time.
Sources close to the family say Mahmood Alam Khan is now planning to fly his wife to Ukraine for further treatment because he has found out that hospitals there have been successful in bringing patients out of vegetative states as they specialise in stem cell therapy.
While the family was not willing to reveal the name of the hospital Najma will be taken to, they’ve asked friends and well-wishers to pray for them during these testing times.
( Source : dc )
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