It may sound absurd but it actually happened! A premier private hospital, along the Diamond Harbour (DH) Road in the New Alipore area, charged Rs 50,030 for a 49-minute stay at its critical care unit (CCU) for treatment of a patient, Rs 1,800 for ambulance to shift her from one building to another in the same campus, Rs 11,875 for medical attention at the emergency ward and Rs 50,000 as an advance deposit for her admission at the hospital.

The patient, who was admitted to the hospital on 30 December in 2024 died within 49 minutes after she was taken into the CCU.

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The aggrieved relatives of the deceased lodged a complaint with the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) on 19 February against the inflated bills by the hospital.

“How did the hospital charge Rs 50,030 only for 49 minutes’ stay in the critical care unit and Rs 1,800 from shifting the patient by an ambulance from one building to an adjacent building inside the same campus? It’s impossible and unbelievable,” Justice Asim Banerjee, chairman of the WBCERC, said on Wednesday.

“One Kushal Patra lodged a complaint against the hospital for making such inflated bills for treatment of his near and dear one with the commission. After verifying his complaint, we have directed the hospital authorities to deduct Rs 20,000 and then refund the rest of the treatment charges,” said Justice Banerjee, a retired judge of the Calcutta High Court.

The patient was taken to a heart research centre in the New Alipore area first on 30 December, showing symptoms of cardiac problems. She was diagnosed with pneumonia by doctors there at the research centre.

Doctors referred the case to the pulmonology experts of a private multi-speciality hospital for her treatment. Both the heart research centre and multi-speciality hospital, belonging to the same group of hospitals, are located in the same complex along the D H Road.

“After verifying documents, we found that the patient was admitted to the two healthcare facilities the same day under the same user ID number given by the heart research centre, where she was rushed in around 1.40 p.m. on 30 December. She was shifted to the multispeciality hospital’s emergency where she underwent several emergency medical tests. They charged Rs 11,875 for emergency medical attention there,” Justice Banerjee said.

“The patient was taken to the critical care unit around 5 p.m. and died there at 5.49 p.m. The medical bill for only 49 minutes’ treatment was Rs 50,030. We can’t believe it because it’s impossible,’ he added.

“When we contacted the hospital authorities seeking clarifications on inflated bills. They responded to us saying that they were looking for bank details of the deceased’s relative to refund Rs 11,000. But we were not impressed with their response and asked them to deduct only Rs 20,000 and refund the remaining amount already paid by the relative,” the chairman of the commission said.