NPPA had asked Fortis to furnish details of procurement and billing prices of all items it had used while treating the girl. (Express Photo: Manoj Kumar) NPPA had asked Fortis to furnish details of procurement and billing prices of all items it had used while treating the girl. (Express Photo: Manoj Kumar)

Fortis Hospital, Gurgaon made a 1,737 per cent profit on drugs and other consumables that it billed the family of seven-year-old Aadya Singh, the drug pricing regulator has found in an analysis.

Aadya died of dengue at the hospital in September, and her family was charged almost Rs 16 lakh for a 15-day stay. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) found that the hospital charged the family Rs 106 for a “three-way stop cock bivalve” that it had procured for Rs 5.77 — a margin of 1,737 per cent.

For a disposable syringe that the hospital bought for Rs 15.29, it charged Rs 200 — a margin of 1,208 per cent. NPPA had asked Fortis to furnish details of procurement and billing prices of all items it had used while treating the girl.

A dotamine injection, that costs Rs 28.35, was billed at Rs 287.50, a levofloxacin (one of the most commonly used antibiotics) that comes for Rs 23.81 was billed at Rs 115 and an alcoholic swab that costs 0.45p, was billed at Rs 2. The meropenem injection by Cipla that the hospital charged Rs 3,112 for was procured at Rs 404. A disposable syringe that costs Rs 3.26 was sold for Rs 37.

In a statement soon after the news of the girl’s death, Fortis said, “All consumables are transparently reflected in records and charged as per actuals.” The NPPA analysis shows that the average profit margin on syringes was 900-1,000%. The family had been charged for 611 syringes and 1,546 pairs of gloves during the hospitalisation. There was, according to NPPA, more than 600% markup in the prices of gloves.

In a statement, Fortis Healthcare said it does not charge any drug or consumables above the MRP and there is “no violation of drug price control order. It should also be noted that our end price to the patient is very much in line with other private hospitals in India”.

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