In an unprecedented move the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) today has asked the Medica Super Speciality Hospital (MSSH) along EM Bypass to review a Rs 19 lakh bill for treatment of a Covid affected patient, Dr Pradip Bhattacharya, who died at the hospital on Monday.

The commission has also proposed the MSSH management to refund a portion of the amount by reducing the bill to the bereaved family of the deceased doctor of Shyamnagar in North 24 Parganas.

Different doctors’ bodies came down hard on the private hospital on social media for overcharging on Dr Bhattacharya’s treatment, prompting the commission headed by retired judge Ashim Kumar Banerjee to take up the issue with the MSSH management.

“We have come to know about the bill amount from social media and he was a popular doctor in his locality. I have requested the hospital management to review the bill and refund a portion of the amount to the deceased doctor’s family. They have assured me to reconsider the bill so that the bereaved family can get back some money,” Justice Banerjee said.

In another incident, the commission has also directed another private hospital authority to appear before a hearing at its office on 19 August.

On Tuesday, a Covid-affected female patient was denied admission at the hospital along EM Bypass and died in an ambulance that brought her to the private healthcare unit after her relatives could not pay Rs 3 lakh rupees as advance money during her admission.

Her relatives said that her husband had also died of coronavirus last week and she also contracted the viral infection. She was brought to a nursing home at Park Circus from Tamluk in East Midnapore first and then rushed to the private hospital.

“The hospital authority demanded three lakh rupees as advance money from us during her admission. But only Rs 80,000 was lying with us and we requested them to get the patient admitted assuring them to pay the remainder within a few days. But they demanded the entire amount of Rs 3 lakh rupees. In the meantime, the patient writhing in pain died inside the ambulance,” the deceased’s relatives alleged.

“We are registering a suo moto case against the hospital. They have been asked to appear before a hearing in our commission office on 19 August,”the WBCERC chief said. On Saturday, the commission had issued an advisory to streamline the system of advance money deposited to hospitals during admissions of corona-affected persons.

WBCERC directed private hospitals not to take more than Rs 50,000 or 20 per cent of the estimated treatment cost, whichever is lower, as advance money during the process related to admissions.