Private Healthcare: Service Or Profit Making?

Shock and anger swept the country when it emerged that the parents of seven-year-old Adya, who died of dengue at Gurugram's Fortis Hospital, were billed Rs 16 lakh for 15 days of treatment. The bill also included the costs of over a thousand gloves and 660 syringes. The father alleged that the hospital forced them to purchase the costliest brands of medicines as well. Now, even as the central government has asked for action in the case and warned hospitals across the country, a fresh report has come in, this time from Gurugram Medanta Hospital. Medanta is alleged to have billed an insurance agent Rs 15.88 lakh for his seven-year-old son's 22nd day dengue treatment. The father said he mortgaged his house to pay the bill, but did not have money for further treatment and was forced to shift his son, to government's Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital where the child died two days later. On Agenda, we discuss the sad and shocking state of healthcare. Is the private medical healthcare in state of emergency?