Bikram S Majithia shows bills, tells how patient charged Rs 20.5 lakh against all govt norms for COVID treatment
Chandigarh, August 18, 2020: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today demanded the Congress government order an independent probe into the exploitation of a COVID-19 patient by Amandeep Medicity in Amritsar which indulged in gross medical malpractice by charging Rs 20.5 lakh against all government norms from his family.
Addressing a virtual press conference on the issue, former minister Bikram Singh Majithia also demanded that the license of Amandeep Medicity be revoked and that a case of criminal neglect be registered against the hospital management. He said the hospital used the pandemic conditions to financially drain Sawinder Singh’s family by keeping him in the hospital for 48 days after which time he passed away.
Giving details, Mr Bikram Majithia said Amandeep Medicity had already emerged as a black sheep in the medical profession. He said the hospital management was earlier also accused of medical negligence and exploitation of a poor patient who was charged Rs 5.50 lakh and yet faced amputation of his hand. He said now again the hospital had again crossed all boundaries by charging Rs 20.50 lakh from the family of Savinder Singh for a 48 day stay in the hospital. He said against the government norms of charging Rs 10,000 per day from a moderately affected COVID patient to Rs 15,000 from a severely affected patient, Amandeep Medicity charged Savinder at the rate of Rs 42,500 per day. “If the hospital had charged as per government norms the bill would not have been more than Rs 6.70 lakh”, he added.
The SAD leader said shockingly Amandeep Medicity also collected Rs eight lakh from the victim family on account of medicines and Rs five lakh on account of PPE kits which the victim family used to buy itself. He said there were reports of other patients also being fleeced by the hospital and only an independent inquiry could reveal the extent of this malpractice adding the Congress government was deliberately soft peddling the accusations being leveled by people against the hospital management. The family members of Savinder Singh also interacted with the media and disclosed how they had been fleeced by the hospital management.
Mr Majithia said scores of medical professionals were doing yeoman service during a time of pandemic by taking up challenging duties to cure COVID-19 patients. “These doctors and para-medical staff need to be identified and appreciated”. He said simultaneously the medical fraternity should take note of the black sheep like Amandeep Medicity who were bringing a bad name to the profession by indulging in unethical practice by virtually acting like executioners during a time of pandemic”.