MP: Patient arrested for non-payment of medical bills

• God of Earth Doing, warriors of the Corona virus


• CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan promised strict action against the "cruel" act.


• Shajapur collector Dinesh Jain has ordered a probe which is being conducted by sub-divisional magistrate

In the pictures, the elderely patient Lakshmi Narayan could be seen lying on a hospital bed with his arms and legs tied with rope by the so called Gods on Earth. The incident which took place on June 6 at a hospital in Shajapur city, 38 km away from the patient's hometown Rajgarh district, has prompted the state government to order a probe into the matter.

When he came to City Hospital to get his treatment, he deposited Rs 6,000 when he was admitted and then Rs 5,000 later. When Narayan recovered and was being discharged, the hospital asked him and his family to pay Rs 11,270 more, which they didn't have. The family tried to arrange money to pay the pending bills but was not able to due to Covid-19 situation. Then the 80-year-old was tied to the hospital bed for not settling the final bill and his daughter was not allowed to take him home.

Shajapur collector Dinesh Jain has formed a team led by the SDM for the case and ordered a probe to ensure that such incident does not happen again. While the hospital denied tying the patient for non-payment of bills, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, taking note of media reports, promised strict action against the "cruel" act.

Shajapur collector Dinesh Jain has ordered a probe which is being conducted by SDM. When contacted, Solanki said the probe report would be submitted to the collector by Sunday evening.

However, City Hospital director Dr Varun Bajaj said the 65-year-old patient, who is claimed to be around 80 years old in media reports, was discharged on Friday "without taking the due amount".

"The patient was having intestinal problems and in order to administer the medicine, his legs were tied to the bed while his hands were held by his family during the process," Bajaj falsely claimed. He said police were informed after those attending the patient expressed inability to pay the bill and insisted on taking him home.

Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and senior Congress leader Kamal Nath termed the incident as "inhuman and barbaric". Congress Leader Tarun Bhardwaj said that "It is a general Practice in Private Hospital. Doctors (God on Earth) refuse to release the patients and in severe cases they confisicate the dead body of patients for non payments. This can be seen more prominently in the Metros like Noida, Delhi and Gurgaon. There have been many incidents in Noida where hospitals refused to give dead bodies on non payment of illogical bills. He further said that "During corona pandemic, private hospitals are looting patients and doing things the way they like. Strict action should be taken against the accused".

However, the Indian Medical Association's (IMA) district secretary Dr Praveen Singh Gohil said if the Shajapur administration takes action in the matter on the basis of media reports, they will strongly protest against it and will prevent such wrong doers.