Supreme Court issues notice in application highlighting overcharging in private hospitals under the garb of COVID-19 treatment

The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice in an application seeking to highlight the malpractices carried out by hospitals under the guise of COVID-19 treatment (Sachin Jain v. Union of India & Ors)..The applicant sought to intervene in the matter before the Supreme Court related to fixing of a price cap on COVID-19 treatment..Rahul Adhikari, whose father succumbed to COVID-19 while being treated in a private hospital, sought to bring to light the hardships faced by the people and to "expose the scam and malpractices being adopted to rob the citizens of India in guise of treatment of COVID-19 in complete violation of the guidelines in letter and spirit.”.Having been personally aggrieved, the applicant says that while the Centre filed a comprehensive reply to the Court’s question on the price cap for treatment in these private hospitals build on government land, the affidavit does not touch upon the point of overcharging by the hospitals with regard to medicines and other services. The application states,.“There is an urgent need for specific guidelines/regulations for limiting the cost of pharmaceutical and other products for COVID-19. This will also help charitable institutes who are helping COVID-19 patients and even hospitals otherwise to save cost and serve better.”.Therefore, the applicant has made certain recommendations before the Supreme Court. These recommendations include:.Framing of guidelines for admission and discharge of COVID-19 patients from hospitals. The concerned authorities may maintain data to track the availability of beds and potential plasma donors. If a COVID-19 patient is refused to be admitted, the reason for the same must be given by the hospitals in writing. This may keep the refusals under check. Setting up of monitoring committees in each district to take reports from all the COVID-19 specialty hospitals and “scrutinize bills with help of artificial intelligence or electronic mode” as opposed to the citizens having to raise a grievance, as suggested by the Centre. Charges for beds, PPE kits, doctors’ visits etc should all be fixed in order to prevent hospitals from overcharging for these services. “Covid warriors” like the doctors and other staff at health and medical facilities should have fixed benefits to prevent hospitals from charging exorbitant fees in the guise of additional benefits for staff which is pocketed by management..The Bench of Chief Justice of India SA Bobde with Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian has issued notice on this application and will hear the matter after fifteen days for final disposal..The application is filed through Advocate Manisha T Karia and the applicant was represented by Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra..In July this year, the Supreme Court had observed that patients who cannot afford treatment for COVID-19 should not be turned away from healthcare institutions. While doing so, the Court asked the Centre to issue directions to states under the Disaster Management Act so that COVID-19 treatment is not unaffordable..[COVID-19] "No one should be turned away from healthcare institutions if costs are too high", SC gives Centre two weeks to issue directions.This order had come in a plea filed by one Sachin Jain, who cited news reports alleging inflated billing by private hospitals..Senior Advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the healthcare federation, had then stated that courts are not in any position to lay down a fixed cost of treatment for hospitals across the country, as the kind of medical facilities offered vary from state to state. He had further submitted that the Apex Court should leave individual state matters to the High Courts..Read Order: