Gurugram's Fortis hospital bills Rs 16 lakh for dead child's dengue treatment; inquiry ordered

The hospital billed them for 1,600 gloves, 660 syringes and sugar strips

Delhi: Gurugram's Fortis Memorial Research Institute has charged a whopping Rs 16 lakh for 15-days treatment of seven-year-old dengue patient, who later died while being shifted to a different hospital.

Adya Singh, daughter of Dwarka-based IT professional Jayant Singh, was admitted to Fortis on August 31 with 'severe dengue', which later progressed to 'dengue shock syndrome'. Witnessing a progressive fall in her platelet count, the hospital put her on ventilation.

The family spent 15-days at the hospital, with 10-days on life support.

The family alleges they were charged for 1,600 gloves, 660 syringes and high-end antibiotics and sugar strips.

Twitter handle @DopeFloat, a friend of the family, wrote, “Charged for a whopping 660 syringes. They pumped a 7 year old with an average of 40 syringes a day. Parents kept insisting on MRI/CT Scan to check if she was even alive since she was on ventilator since day 5

The message was retweeted 16,000 times in four days, prompting a reply from the health minister.

“We want to appeal for an investigation and if any changes are required in the laws, they should be made. Would not like other people to suffer like we did,” said Jayant Singh, Adya's father.

Deciding to look into the allegations, health minister JP Nadda tweeted:

Please provide me details on hfwminister@gov.in .We will take all the necessary action. https://t.co/dq273L66cK

— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) November 20, 2017

Fortis hospital has denied all allegations against it, stating genuine protocols were followed and family was informed about progress in treatment. The father, however, claimed no day-to-day break-up of charges was given.