Rs 6 lakh charged for treating snakebite
Victim’s colleagues say hospital cheating them; register police complaint
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-12-31 02:21 GMT
Hyderabad: A whopping Rs 6 lakh bill for treating a snakebite, which was issued by the Rush Hospitals at Suchitra crossroad on Medchal Highway, led to police being called.
A casual worker of a manufacturing unit on the Medchal Highway was bitten by a snake when he went to pick up a tool on the gangway. Workers rushed him to the nearby clinic. But they told to take the patient to a super-speciality hospital.
Manoj Kumar, manager of the unit, said, “The doctors said he would have to stay in hospital for three days and the treatment would cost Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh. We agreed as saving the worker’s life was important.”
The patient was admitted on December 18 and until December 23, each day, he was given 20 vials of anti-venom. Mr Kumar said, “How can an individual take so much anti-venom? We didn’t know how much venom had gone into his body.”
After paying Rs 3.5 lakh, the company officers began making inquiries with other doctors about the treatment in snakebite cases. “We realised that we were being cheated and got another doctor to check our worker. Our doctor claimed he was fit and fine.
We asked the hospital to allow us to take the patient to Gandhi Hospital. But they threatened us and demanded that we give in writing that we would be responsible if anything happens to the patient.”
The company registered a complaint with the Petbasheerabad police station. The police visited the patient in hospital and asked hospital authorities not to trouble the him. With the bills not settled, the hospital is unwilling to release the patient and the police has asked the doctors to ascertain his “real” status, and, if required, shift him to Gandhi Hospital. Despite attempts, no one from Rush Hospital, was available for comment.