Unfair profiteering through unethical exploitation of pandemic

     The entire world is facing a worst healthcare crisis of COVID-19 as never before. The pandemic has already accounted for tens of thousands of deaths and is expected to affect more. While a large number of health care providers have risen to the occasion and extending a yeomen selfless service to the victims, there are several cruel, insensitive private health institutions in the country which have exploited the pandemic for profiteering at the cost of the hapless patients. Some unscrupulous private healthcare institutions are fleecing the patients by considering the outbreak as a one time business opportunity.

     In connection with the above unfair practice, I would like to mention four specific cases, which were reported on social media:

1.      A 60 year old was admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi with Covid-19 in April. After about 30 days of hospitalization, the family received a whopping bill of Rs. 16,14,596 , which included a flat rate charge of Rs. 10,000 per day for the personal protective equipments (PPE) / accessories used by the medical staff for treating the patient. The hospital had charged Rs. 2.9 lakh for PPE alone, contributing 18% of the total bill;

2.      A 74- year-old, Mumbai patient was admitted in April to the private Nanavati Hospital with pneumonia and Covid-19. The patient died 13 days later. The family received a bill of Rs. 16,44,714. The hospital charged a flat rate of Rs. 8900 per day for PPE, apart from other daily Covid-19 specific charges such as for biomedical waste disposal. The hospital didn’t give the breakup of how many units of PPE were used on the patient and also the unit price.

3.      Recently a video went viral in social media regarding KEM Hospital, Rasta Peth, overcharging a Star Health Insurance Policyholder, who was admitted on April 13 for Covid treatment and was discharged on April 28. The total amount incurred for the treatment was Rs. 1,66,969 and the insurance company approved Rs. 85,237 and the balance Rs. 81,642  was rejected as it was charged towards consumables. Of this rejected amount Rs. 69,178 alone was charged for PPEs.

4.      Compared to the above hospitals, let us consider the case of Karuna Hospital which is a charitable hospital. An elderly husband and wife who both tested positive for Covid-19 were admitted in May 2020 to this charitable hospital. The hospital billed for what the hospital said it had used. A minimum of two and a maximum of four PPE kits were used per day on these patients. Each PPE kit was billed at Rs. 1500.

        In order to understand the extent of looting by the private hospitals while charging for the PPE, it is necessary to compare the price paid by the public sector in Tamil Nadu. In March 2020, the government of Tamil Nadu bought PPE kits at Rs. 362 each, which included a N95 mask and a triple- layer mask from the suppliers.

        As per Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s ‘rational costing solution’ for Covid-19 treatment, up to three or four PPE kits are needed per patient per day, depending on whether the patient is in an isolation ward or an ICU.

      If we consider Rs. 362 as the base price for the calculation, if a hospital like Sir Ganga Ram Hospital charges a patient Rs. 10,000 per day for PPE, it is charging a patient for an astronomical 27 PPE kits per day. This is nothing but looting and unethical profiteering, taking advantage of the pandemic. This is mockery of the worst kind of the over hyped ethical behaviour and Corporate Social Responsibility, often professed by the corporates.

        While billing, PPE is charged under the category of consumables and disposables, which are neither medicines nor medical devices, but are used in large quantities during treatment. These are the items like gloves, masks, syringes which are used and then discarded.

        As per the analysis carried out by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority in 2018, the private sector hospitals made profits of up to 1737% on some of the consumables billed to the patients. A typical example being, while the hospitals bought a device used in intravenous lines for as little as Rs. 5.77, was billed at Rs. 106, an unimaginable hike of 1737%.

       While hearing a petition in May 2020 on ‘cost related regulations’ for Covid-19 treatment in private / corporate hospitals, the Supreme Court of India asked why private hospitals that received free land benefit from governments to construct hospitals should not be obligated to treat Covid-19 patients free of cost. The Central government in its reply in June 2020 pleaded that it had no legal powers to mandate the private hospitals to extend free treatment and this is a state matter. The matter is still being heard in the Supreme Court.

      The medical profession is considered a noble profession because it helps in preserving life.  Patients come to the hospital with the trust that they would be given the best possible medical treatment in a transparent and in ethical manner. The services of the private hospitals are covered under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 and a patient can seek redressal of grievances from the Consumer Courts.

      Ethical practice can be enforced only through the peer pressure and legislation is no solution to the malady. Course correction is possible only when all the practicing noble doctors come together and start insisting on ethical self- governance.

       The recent trend in fleecing the unsuspecting patients with demonic ruthlessness is to be arrested before it becomes a modern business strategy.

(Source: IndiaSpend- Public-interest journalism, non- profit, information available in internet and other sources which are in public domain)

 

Dr. C K Sreedharan

www.sreedharanck.com