₹18L hospital bill: Health dept team launches probe

GURGAON: A four-member health department team on Thursday started a probe at a private hospital in Gurgaon after the father of a seven-year-old girl, who died of dengue in September, raised questions about the hospital’s billing practices.

The team scanned the documents and questioned the doctors who were treating the girl.

The report of the investigation will be submitted to Haryana health minister Anil Vij within a week.

The team reached the hospital around 10.30am and were there till late evening, official sources said. The team members scanned all bills issued to the deceased girl’s family and inquired about the course of treatment.

Two health directors from Chandigarh are leading the inquiry in this case.

“We are investigating whether the course of treatment given to the girl was correct. We had a daylong meeting with the doctors at Fortis Memorial Research Institute. It will take us few days to prepare a report regarding the case,” BK Rajora, chief medical officer, Civil Hospital, Gurgaon, said.

The probe was launched after the father of the deceased alleged that the hospital billed them for 660 syringes and 2,700 gloves during the 15-day hospital stay and Union health minister JP Nadda responded to a family friend’s tweet expressing outrage.

The father of the deceased girl had alleged that the hospital gave them a 20-page itemised bill that amounts to ₹18 lakh.

The girl, Adya Singh, was referred to Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon, after she was diagnosed with dengue from another private hospital and she was on ventilator from September 1 as her condition deteriorated August 31.