Hospital sealed, FIR filed over old patient who was tied to bed for non-payment of bills

mangaloretoday.com/ yahoo

Shajapur, MP, June, 9, 2020: The administration of Madhya Pradesh’s Shajapur district on Monday sealed a private hospital and lodged an FIR against its administration in connection with an incident where an elderly patient was allegedly tied to the hospital’s bed over non-payment of medical bills.

A controversy erupted after a photo of the old man, lying down with his hands and legs tied to the bed, went viral in social media on Saturday.

After Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan took cognisance of media reports, the newly appointed collector of Shajapur district Dinesh Jain ordered a probe into the incident.

On Monday, the committee led by ADM submitted the report to the collector, which stated that it had found irregularities on the part of the private hospital. The private hospital was subsequently sealed and an FIR was lodged with local Kotwali police station.

On Sunday, as clamour grew over the ‘inhuman’ treatment meted out to the senior citizen, former chief minister Kamal Nath tweeted about the incident along with a video. “Amid corona pandemic, some private hospitals are busy looting the patients and there is nobody to listen,” said Nath in while seeking stringent action against the hospital.

CM Chouhan, too, had tweeted saying that the guilty would not be spared.

The senior citizen’s daughter had alleged that her family had deposited money twice for treatment and when the hospital demanded more money, they pleaded with them to discharge the man as they had run out of cash. But the hospital reportedly sought a bill of around Rs 11,000 and when the family said they could not pay it, the hospital staff tied him to the bed.

Meanwhile, Dr Varun Bajaj, the director of the private hospital told media that the patient was discharged and no money was taken.

"The patient was having intestinal problems and in order to administer the medicine, his legs were tied to the bed while his hands were held by his family during the process," Dr Bajaj claimed.