A 71-year-old from Bangarupalem Mandal was rushed to a popular private hospital in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, a few kilometers from Chittoor, when he began to experience breathing problems a few days after his first positive test at a state-run COVID care center week in May. After a week of treatment, his body was given to family members, but not before they’d settled a £ 15 lakh bill.
A 53-year-old government official near Chittoor spent £ 2 at a private COVID hospital on the outskirts of Chittoor earlier this month but found the treatment “very poor”. His family transferred him to a private hospital in Tirupati, where he was charged £ 7 for five days, which was reduced to £ 5 on the recommendation of an MLA. Since the hospital was reluctant to continue treating him, the patient was transferred to a company hospital on the outskirts of Tirupati. The family reportedly spent an additional £ 3 lakh on treatment here for two days, including injections of remdesivir, but he could not be saved.
The two families are closely related. A family member of the elderly victim remembers her ordeal and says, “We can fight COVID-19, but not the exploitation. We have no evidence of the medical bills. At Vellore, instead of an invoice, every time we paid the money, we received a slip of paper with a scribbled signature. We weren’t allowed to pay the bills online. It was a great struggle to bundle currency bundles together. The final invoice that was given to us only related to 25% of the amount we had collected. “
The younger sister of the 53-year-old victim notes: “We were absolutely helpless. Oral instructions were given to pay money with threats that failure to pay would hold up treatment so we had no choice. The fact that the bill was cut by £ 2 lakh on the word of one MLA shows that it was greatly inflated. Although hospitals know full well that they cannot save a patient, they go to extremes in exploiting the helpless. “
Lost parents
In another case, a district ophthalmologist had lost his mother to COVID-19 a few months ago after spending £ 12 on her treatment at a company hospital in Chennai. Last week, his 75-year-old father tested positive for the virus and complained of mild breathing difficulties. He entered a government COVID-19 hospital in Tirupati and reassured his son with a smile, but was discharged lifeless on May 20.
“After the bad experience at the company hospital, I took him to a government hospital, which didn’t help either. To get a bed, I almost fell at the feet of an influential political leader. Fear of government hospitals forces patients to turn to company hospitals and vice versa. Blame Whom “he complains.