A 74-year-old Chembur resident is at the centre of a tussle between SoBo's Breach Candy Hospital and her family, who had admitted the septuagenarian for treatment on June 1



Chanchal Jain and her family. Pic/Atul Kamble

A 74-year-old Chembur resident is at the centre of a tussle between SoBo's Breach Candy Hospital and her family, who had admitted the septuagenarian for treatment on June 1. Almost five months later, while the elderly woman, Chanchal Jain, says she feels worse than when she was admitted, the doctors at the hospital have given her a clean bill of health and insist that she be discharged immediately.





What's more, the woman, despite being in 'perfect health' according to the doctors, has run up a bill of almost Rs 20 lakh, of which, Rs 4.50 lakh is only for 'medicines'.



Chanchal Jain before she was taken to the ICU in July after a medical procedure allegedly went wrong

Her outraged family is wondering if the doctors cannot diagnose their mother's ailment and are insisting on discharging her, why medicines worth Rs 4.50 lakh were given to her. The woman's son, Sandeep, a hardware businessman, and daughter, Seema Aggarwal, have now refused to take their mother out of hospital until she is out of pain and they have answers to all their questions from the hospital trustees, no less.



The hospital bill

The issue

On June 1, Jain was admitted to the deluxe private room no. 500 of the hospital after complaining of lack of appetite and difficulty walking. The family admitted her to Breach Candy Hospital as they wanted well-known surgeon Dr Tehempton Udwadia to personally monitor her health.

However, a month-and-a-half later, on July 14, Jain was rushed to the ICU after becoming breathless and had to be put on life support. Later, the family alleges, a doctor told them that during a medical procedure, some internal bleeding was left unattended, which affected blood supply to her brain, resulting in her health deteriorating. The family says the MRI scan clearly shows white patches, indicating lack of blood supply at the time. Her body had swelled up subsequently.

Letters back and forth

In Seema's letter dated July 24, (copy available with this paper) addressed to the trustee of Breach Candy Hospital, she mentioned the internal bleeding and subsequent complications. She also referred to two other letters dated June 20 and July 6 about her mother's deteriorating health to which she had got no reply. She stated that while a meeting with the doctors concerned was arranged in the hospital auditorium on July 15, there were still no answers. Seema, in the letter, said, “We were keen on understanding what was wrong with our mother, but the panel of doctors kept saying they were unable to diagnose the problem.”

Seema said that the original reason why they got their mother admitted to hospital persists. In the letter, Seema stated, “The entire treatment given was for something that the hospital was responsible for. They are supposed to rectify this. How then can they expect us to pay?”

In response to Seema's letter, the hospital Medical Director Dr Geeta Koppikar responded on July 28 (copy of response with this paper) wherein she stated that 'All the attending doctors have given discharge instructions and hence the patient should be taken home'.

Koppikar even stated that most of the points raised in the letter by the family were inconsistent with what transpired at their meetings. The letter states that the bill until July 28, 2016 amounted to R12.88 lakh and was raised for valid services rendered, and included not only the bed charges and doctors' fees but also medical supplies, investigations done and procedures carried out.

The letter ends requesting the family to settle the dues and that if the bill was not cleared, they were free to take their mother home, but the hospital would initiate recovery proceedings.

The bills

Seema said, “On October 10, the hospital gave us a copy of a bill amounting to R20,20,426. We had already paid R2 lakh during admission.”

Sandeep, said, “We have no problem clearing this bill, but we want to know why the management is insisting we take our mother home when clearly she is in pain. And, what are we being billed for when the hospital is unable to diagnose her problem?”

Sandeep, on Thursday, said the hospital had stopped sending them bills for the past eight days, after they expressed their displeasure over their line of treatment.

Interestingly, Jain's room has a notice on its door that reads 'Fall Risk', which means Jain is at risk of falling if made to get up, she said. The family has employed two caretakers to be with Jain on rotation round the clock.

Hospital says

While the hospital administration was tightlipped about the issue, we spoke to Dr Udwadia, who said, “The patient is fine and I have discharged her two months ago. He refused to share any other information, asking us to contact the hospital management.”

Both the CEO of the hospital N Santhanam and Medical Director Dr Geeta Khopikar did not wish to comment on the issue.

However, a senior hospital official, on condition of anonymity, rubbished the family's allegations against the hospital. “We have done our best to treat the patient and continue to do so. Our concern is about the other deserving patients who require the bed, which has been occupied unnecessarily. Moreover, we are facing such a situation for the first time in the history of our hospital.”

JJ's assistance sought

Highly-placed officials at the hospital stated that as per procedure they had sought assistance from the government- run JJ hospital to certify the fitness of the elderly patient and have also written letters to the dean, Dr TP Lahane. This is standard procedure adopted by private hospitals where government-run hospitals are approached to take in patients who cannot pay. Doctors from JJ visited Breach Candy last week and examined the patient, but are yet to give their final fitness certificate as they are awaiting reports of the recommended cardiac tests by Breach Candy hospital.

Dr C V Bhirmanandham (Vice-President), Indian Medical Council, said if a private hospital feels a patient is unable to pay the bill, they can shift the patient to a government-run hospital. In this case, Breach Candy Hospital approached JJ Hospital.

JJ Hospital says

When contacted, Dr TP Lahane, dean of Sir JJ Group of Hospitals and Grant Medical College, confirmed that he had received a letter from Breach Candy Hospital seeking assistance from their medical team to certify the fitness of a patient who has been in the hospital for the past few months.

Dr Lahane said, “In the last one month, Breach Candy hospital office bearers have written two or three letters requesting me to send my team of doctors to certify a patient's fitness for discharge. A lecturer from the medicine department, a surgeon and a medical superintendent were sent to Breach Candy Hospital accordingly, who examined the patient and advised the hospital to carry out some cardiac tests on her. We are awaiting the reports.”

Dr Lahane said usually they come across cases where the patient's relatives are untraceable once they get the patient admitted at the hospital. The hospital then informs the police, who then investigate the whereabouts of the relatives. “Hospitals cannot afford to keep the beds occupied for a patient who has been declared fit for discharge,” he said.

Indian Medical Council says

D C V Bhirmanandham (Vice-President), Indian Medical Council told mid-day, “The treating doctors and the hospital are the deciding authorities on whether a patient needs hospitalisation or should be discharged. And, in case the relatives have some allegations against the hospital or treating doctors they need to approach the medical ethics committee of the Maharashtra Medical Council, as relatives are not medically qualified to point out any negligence.”

What happens otherwise?

According to Dr Bhirmanandham, usually when patients are brought to private hospitals, the relatives are aware about the medical expenses involved and if for some reason they are unable to make the payment or clear the bills, on humanitarian grounds the hospital will continue to provide treatment to the patient, as no hospital will allow a patient to die.

At the same time, the hospital management can get the patient shifted to a government-run hospital for free treatment and ensure that their bed is not blocked for a patient on the waiting-list.