Dengue death case: Trouble for Gurgaon Fortis as Haryana govt wants hospital's license cancelled

NEW DELHI: Trouble mounted for Gurgaon's Fortis hospital in a case of a family unnecessarily being charged Rs 15 lakh for the treatment of a 7-year-old girl suffering from dengue who later died. Haryana health minister Anil Vij said the state government will lodge an FIR against the hospital for criminal negligence on their part. "We are going to lodge an FIR against Fortis for criminal negligence on their part. Will also write to IMA to cancel their license. Moreover, we have also given a notice for cancellation of blood bank in that hospital," Vij said. The state government had set up the three-member committee under the chairmanship of the Additional Director General (Health) to probe the matter. The Haryana government had ordered the probe into the allegations after the central government had asked it to initiate an urgent inquiry into the case. The committee was to gather information about medicines and treatment given to the girl along with the bills and reasons for her death. Vij had earlier said that though only government hospitals in the state can provide free treatment for dengue, even private hospitals cannot charge Rs 16 lakh for the treatment of the disease. What was the case all about: The case relates to the death of a 7-year-old girl, who was admitted in September to the Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI), Gurgaon, a multi super-specialty care hospital. The parents of the girl had alleged they were billed Rs 16 lakh, which also included the cost of 2,700 gloves. The hospital has charged the family over a lakh rupees per day for fifteen days after they admitted their 7-year-old daughter, Adya, to the hospital for treatment of dengue. Adya was declared dead on September 15. "The hospital in the bill showed that 2,700 gloves and 600 syringes were used in 15 days during her treatment. They even charged us for the cloth they wrapped our daughter in after she died. The hospital charged us Rs. 4 lakh for medicines," Deepti, Adya's mother, had said. Adya was detected with Dengue in August and admitted to Rockland Hospital in Dwarka Sector 12. After five days she was shifted from Rockland Hospital to Fortis Hospital in Gurugram, where the 7-year-old was immediately put on a ventilator without informing her parents. After being put on a ventilator, Adya's condition deteriorated as her brain and kidneys also got affected. Last month, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had also sought a report from the Haryana government over the same case. However, earlier, the hospital had refuted the charges, claiming that the patient's family was informed about the bill on a daily basis and that there was no medical negligence. (With inputs from PTI)