HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court directed the state government to immediately initiate steps to refund the excess amount collected by private hospitals from Covid-19 patients.
The division bench comprising Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B.
Vijaysen Reddy asked Advocate-General B.S. Prasad, to convey the government about the court's concern and ensure that it would be implemented. The advocate general submitted that he would convey the message and come up with the response of the government on Wednesday.
The bench was dealing with the batch of PILs on Covid-19. During the
adjudication, several counsels raised concerns that the government has not
so far issued new GOs on fixing a cap on prices for the treatment of
Covid-19, and for tests like CT scan.
The bench specifically directed the government in May, to issue fresh GOs
fixing the maximum prices to all the medical services, tests and medical
equipment. Despite the court orders, the government has not issued a single
GO in this regard.
When this was questioned by the bench, the Advocate-General replied that
showcause notices were issued to the private hospitals on the 115 complaints received against fleecing of money. He also submitted that licences to treat Covid -19 to a few private hospitals had been cancelled, after the enquiry reports mentioned that excess amounts were charged by them.
Reacting to it, Justice Kohli questioned, “How will these steps help the
victims, who already have been fleeced? Of course, issuing of show cause
notices, and cancellation of licences are parts of work. But, what is the
position of the poor patients who paid lots of money to save their lives?”
“We are aware of the situations where the relatives of Covid patients are
mortgaging gold, and approaching money lenders to pay hospital bills to save their kins’ life.”
“We are well aware that the hospitals are not discharging the patients or
handing over the dead bodies unless the bill amount is paid fully. The
government should control it. Cancelling of licences cannot give any relief
to the aggrieved patients. At least, the amount, collected excessively,
should be returned,” the court said.
The court also directed the Advocate General to submit the government’s
stand on not issuing new GOs fixing the price cap for Covid treatment.
