Allahabad HC's Lucknow bench on Tuesday sought an explanation from Sanjay Gandhi Post-graduate Institute of Medical Sciences for allegedly holding an 18-year-old patient captive for her inability to pay for treatment.
"Dr. Patel, the wench has no money to pay for her appendectomy!"
"Then why'd we give her one? Put her to work washing bandages!" |
Justice Pradeep Kant issued the notice after taking suo motu cognizance based on a TOI report.
| They read about it in the papers? What an original idea. |
Salma has been in the Institute's alleged captivity for more than an year.
"More bandages, Dr. Patel!"
"Give them to Cinderella! And see that she irons them this time!" |
Additional advocate general J N Mathur, who is also the counsel for the Institute, sought a day's time for reply. The bench said TOI's report be taken as a public interest litigation (PIL). The case would be heard on Wednesday. The case was taken up after a local lawyer Adarsh Mehrotra raised the issue in the high court. He said there is no law where in a patient can be held captive by a hospital in case of non-payment of bills.
| Of course there isn't. Standard practice is to send them home to recover and turn them over to a collection agency. The agency will then send them seven dunning letters a week, ring their phone every 16 minutes, and put liens against most of the things they own, to include dentures, if any. |
| Since this is India, you can always go after the great-grandchildren ... |
Later in the day, Institute authorities held a press conference and announced the girl would be discharged and all her dues waived. Institute director Dr A K Mahapatra said Salma would be sent to Varanasi with the help of district magistrate, Lucknow. He said they have intimated district magistrate, Varanasi, about the issue.
| Caved pretty quickly on that one, didn't they? Is there a smell of old flounder overlaying that of the used bandages? Is Cinderella perhaps attractive? Are the more sordid parts of this story waiting to be told? |
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