Hyderabad: Despite the Telangana state government fixing rates for the treatment of corona patients, some corporate hospitals in Hyderabad have been exploiting the situation to the hilt and a heart-rending story of a family has come into focus..
Three members including the head of the family Satyanarayana Reddy died due to COVID-19 while undergoing treatment at Deccan Hospital in the Somajiguda area of Hyderabad.
While the hospital charged a whopping Rs1.75 million for the treatment of a couple, the family said that they spent a total amount of Rs4 million on the treatment of three members including a nephew of Reddy.
When the family expressed its inability to pay the last bill of Rs850,000, the hospital refused to release the body of Reddy. After much haggling and public pressure the hospital handed over the body only after receiving Rs200,000.
The sufferings of the family at the corporate hospital came to light when Reddy’s son Anreddy Radhesh came out with the details of the horrible sufferings and the criminal neglect in the last hours of his father’s life in the hospital.
“Nobody knows how me and my family suffered over the last four weeks. My father died pleading for help and change of diaper in the hospital but nobody came forward to help him. This was after we spent Rs40 lakhs (four million) on the treatment of three members. Not only they died but the hospital failed in giving them basic care”, said Radhesh, a resident of Dubbacherla village under Maheshwaram Mandal in the outskirts of Hyderabad.
The tragedy of the family began about four weeks ago when both the parents of Radhesh and his cousin brother were admitted to hospital with the symptoms of Corona.
Reddy, his wife and nephew were admitted to hospitals for treatment on July 10. While 32 year old nephew died after undergoing treatment for a few days, Reddy and his wife were discharged after their condition improved. But again on July 15 their condition worsened and they were brought back to hospital. During their 14 days long treatment at the hospital, the family paid an amount of Rs800,000 as first installment and hospital management demanded a total of Rs1.7 million rupees towards their treatment.
Radhesh said that more than the exorbitant bill, he was devastated by the inhuman treatment meted out to his father.
“On July 28 when my mother expired and I was busy in making arrangements for her funeral, I received a call from my father that he needed a change of diaper but for many hours no body turned up till late in the evening”, Radhesh said.
“Jut imaging how bad was the situation of my father and mine at the funeral. I wanted to rush to the hospital because my father was suffering but could not go leave my mother’s funeral”, he said.
“When I contacted the hospital management and asked why the diaper was not changed, they wryly said, ‘the staff was not available’. Is this the way a hospital works after charging so much?”, he asked.
Radhesh said that on the whole the family spent Rs4 million on treatment for three family members but none of them survived. Avadhesh himself had contracted the virus and had to spend many days in quarantine at home.
Reacting to the sufferings of Radhesh senior minister K Taraka Rama Rao has directed the health minister E Rajindra to take strictest possible action against the hospital responsible for the exploitation of the family.
Expressing his deep anguish over the tragic loss of three family members, KTR said, “exploitation in these times by private hospitals is deplorable and shame”.
