16L for COVID care and Rs 4L to give body, demands Kovai hosp

“The hospital, located on Sungam by-pass road with only moderate facilities, has been charging Rs 1 lakh per day in violation of the government stipulated norms. The health condition of the patient, who was admitted in the normal ward, deteriorated and died on Wednesday evening,” said Abdul Hakkim, secretary of Jammat-e-Islami Hind.

After the hospital refused to hand over the body demanding money, the issue was taken to the knowledge of MA Siddique, who is the special monitoring officer deputed in Coimbatore by the state government to control COVID-19.

“Only after his intervention, did the private hospital agreed to hand over the body to the grieving family. As the monitoring officer had promised action based on a complaint, the family of the deceased had decided to submit a petition to the District Collector on Friday. A few more families affected by the issue of overcharging in private hospitals have also come forward to lodge separate complaints,” he added.

With most of the hospitals fleecing COVID-19 patients, the district administration has constituted a multi-disciplinary team to inquire into complaints of fleecing.

“We have so far received complaints against four hospitals over issues in treatment procedures and as well as payment. Hence, a probe is underway in both treatment point of view and for overcharging. Action would be taken against the erring hospitals based on the enquiry report,” said S Nagarajan, District Collector, Coimbatore.