(This story originally appeared in on Feb 22, 2018)

GURUGRAM: The son of a 67-year-old woman has filed a police complaint against a city-based private hospital , alleging negligence in a surgery performed on her for which a final bill of Rs 17 lakh was raised. The woman died 18 days after the surgery, this January.Though police have accepted the complaint, a decision on whether a case is to be registered will be taken only after the health department conducts an inquiry and gives its report.Savitri Devi, originally from Alwar in Rajasthan, was admitted to Columbia Asia on January 8. Her son claimed she had stones in her gall bladder and needed a surgery for their removal. The next morning, she was operated upon. The hospital, however, said it had conducted no such surgery. Dr Chaitanya Pathania, general manager of Columbia Asia Hospital , said Savitri Devi had undergone a surgery for removal of gall bladder stones at another hospital in August 2017, when her gall bladder was removed. At Columbia Asia, she was admitted for a procedure to remove a stone in the common bile duct.Savitri Devi’s son said Rajendra Singh claimed his mother had experienced severe stomach ache after the January 9 surgery. He alleged further checkups hadrevealed her intestines were damaged, following which the hospital conducted three more surgeries on her and put her on ventilation. She died of a cardiac arrest on January 26.In his complaint to the police on January 27, Singh alleged the hospital then went ahead and went charged him Rs 17 lakh for the entire treatment.“We have received the complaint and marked it to the chief medical officer. An FIR can be registered in this case only after we get a recommendation from the health department,” said inspector Vikram Nehra, SHO, Palam Vihar police station.Though the police claimed to have forwarded the complaint in the first week of February, officials at the health department said they had not received it yet.Hospital authorities denied the charges of medical negligence as well as overcharging . “The patient and the family were informed in detail of the risks and complications that are likely and the procedure was undertaken with appropriate consent,” Pathania said. “Unfortunately, the patient had a known complication during the procedure, which was identified and she was taken up for exploration and repair, as a very high risk case due to her age and nutritional status. The patient was being continuously monitored in ICU where she suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away on January 26,” he added.On the allegation of overcharging, the hospital GM said, “She was covered under the Ex-serviceman Contributory Health Scheme and the bill was submitted to the government for clearance.”If cleared, the patient’s family will have to pay around Rs 4.59 lakh.