Premier Hospital Charges Patient ₹50k+ For 49 Minutes Stay At CCU

It may sound absurd, but it actually happened. A premier private hospital, along the Diamond Harbour (DH) Road in the New Alipore area, charged Rs 50,030 for a 49-minute stay at its critical care unit (CCU) for treatment of a patient, Rs 1,800 for ambulance to shift her from one building to another in the same campus, Rs 11,875 for medical attention at the emergency ward, and Rs 50,000 as an advance deposit for her admission at the hospital.

- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

The patient, who was admitted to the hospital on 30 December 2024, died within 49 minutes after she was taken into the CCU. The aggrieved relatives of the deceased lodged a complaint with the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) on 19 February against the inflated bills by the hospital.

"How did the hospital charge Rs 50,030 only for 49 minutes' stay in the critical care unit and Rs 1,800 from shifting the patient by an ambulance from one building to an adjacent building inside the same campus? It's impossible and unbelievable," Justice Asim Banerjee, chairman of the WBCERC, said on Wednesday.