Girl dies of dengue; Fortis Gurugram allegedly charges Rs 18 lakh from family, Health Minister seeks details

Gurugram: Union Health Minister J P Nadda has taken note of alleged overcharging by a Gurgaon-based private hospital from family members of a patient, who reportedly died of dengue recently. A Twitter user @DopeFloat in a post on a microblogging site alleged that the hospital "charged Rs 18 lakh" for 15 days of treatment of dengue for a young daughter of his friend. The tweet later went viral on social media. "One of my batchmate's 7 year old was in @fortis_hospital for ~15 days for Dengue. Billed 18 lakhs including for 2700 gloves. She passed away at the end of it...," he tweeted. After the post was widely circulated on social media, the Union health minister on twitter said: "Please provide me details on hfwminister@gov.in . We will take all the necessary action." Gurgaon-based Fortis Hospital charged a Delhi couple 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. In a shocking case, the parents of a seven-year-old girl, who died of dengue after undergoing treatment at the Fortis Hospital here, were allowed to take their daughter's dead body after paying the exorbitant bill of Rs 18 lakh. Residents of West Delhi's Dwarka, the parents of the deceased have alleged that the hospital staff kept their daughter on ventilator for three days despite she had stopped responding to the treatment. The child died on September 14, 2017. "I want to appeal for an investigation and if any changes are required in the laws, they should be made. Would not like other people to suffer like we did," said Jayant Singh, father of the victim. "Please provide me details on hfwminister@gov.in .We will take all the necessary action," said Nadda in a tweet. As the information about this case went viral, the hospital immediately issued a statement regarding the patient. According to the hospital, Adya was brought to Gurgaon's Fortis Memorial Research Institute from another private hospital on the morning of August 31, 2017. "She was admitted with severe dengue which progressed to dengue shock syndrome and was managed on IV fluids and supportive treatment as there was a progressive fall in platelet count and hemoconcentration," said the hospital in a statement. As her condition deteriorated, she had to be put on ventilator support within 48 hours. "The family was kept informed of the critical condition of the child and the poor prognosis in these situations. As a process, we counselled the family daily on the condition of the child. On 14th September, 2017, the family decided to take her away from the hospital against medical advice (LAMA - Leave Against Medical Advice) and she succumbed the same day," said the statement. Stating that there was nothing wrong at their end, Fortis said that all standard medical protocols were followed in treating the patient and all clinical guidelines were adhered to. "An itemized bill spread over 20 pages was explained and handed over to the family at the time of their departure from the hospital. Patient was treated in the Paediatric ICU (PICU) for 15 days and was critical right from the time of admission requiring Intensive monitoring," said the statement. "Treatment during these 15 days included mechanical ventilation, high frequency ventilation, continuous renal replacement therapy, intravenous antibiotics, inotropes, sedation and analgesia.A Care of ventilated patients in ICU requires a high number of consumables as per globally accepted infection control protocols. All consumables are transparently reflected in records and charged as per actuals." Fortis Hospital also said that they have been in touch with the family to address their concerns and remain available for any further support required. "We understand the grief of the bereaved family and our heartfelt condolences go out to them."