SUBHASH MISHRA
Ranchi, March 12: Maa Ram Pyari Super-speciality Hospital, a corporate hospital in Ranchi, has allegedly charged a state government doctor ₹50,000 for keeping his father under treatment for just 15 hours, during which only two bottles of saline were administered.
The incident raises concerns over the exorbitant medical costs levied by private hospitals, even on government medical professionals.
Emergency Admission and Unexpected Charges
The 83-year-old father of Dr. Ajit Kumar, a laparoscopic surgeon at Ranchi Sadar Hospital, suddenly lost consciousness on Tuesday evening. Since Dr. Kumar was in the operation theatre at the time, his family rushed the elderly patient to a nearby corporate hospital on Harihar Singh Road.
When Dr. Kumar reached the hospital, he was informed that his father had regained consciousness. He then requested his father’s discharge, as he intended to shift him to Medanta Hospital for cashless treatment under the Ayushman CAPF scheme.
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However, the corporate hospital administration assured him that treatment would be provided at Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) rates, given his status as a government doctor. Believing this assurance, Dr. Kumar left his father at the hospital.
₹50,000 Bill for Basic Treatment
The next morning, when Dr. Kumar returned to discharge his father, he was handed a bill exceeding ₹50,000, charged at CGHS rates. The patient had spent merely 15 hours in the ICU, and the only treatment administered was two bottles of saline.
Dr. Kumar, who serves as the Joint Secretary of the Jharkhand State Health Services Association (JSHSA), is also a former Joint Secretary of IMA Ranchi Chapter and a former President of the Junior Doctors Association (JDA) of RIMS, Ranchi.
IMA Raises Concern Over Private Hospital Practices
A senior official from the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Jharkhand, expressed outrage over the incident, questioning the ethics of private hospitals.
“If a senior surgeon from Sadar Hospital can be overcharged in this manner, one can only imagine the plight of common people seeking treatment in such corporate hospitals,” he remarked.
