27 September,2020 10:45 AM IST | Thane | mid-day online correspondent
Photo used for representational purpose
A private hospital in Thane allegedly refused to hand over the body of a woman patient as her family failed to pay the entire bill. The family members of the woman claimed that they could not pay the remaining Rs 8 lakh.
The 40-year-old woman, a resident of Bhandup, had succumbed to COVID-19 at Jupiter Hospital in Thane on Thursday. She was admitted to the hospital for 39 days, for which the hospital billed her family around Rs 24 lakh and Rs 12 lakh for medical expenses, according to a report in Mumbai Mirror.
The hospital, which has not been notified as a COVID-19 hospital by the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), had admitted the patient on August 17 claiming that she was brought in a critical condition was not coronavirus positive.
The family claimed that the hospital was forced to give the body after they put out about the incident on social media and it went viral.
However, the hospital denied the charges, saying that the woman's husband had asked them to keep the body for the night and said he would take it in the morning.
"As we are not a COVID-19 hospital, we had informed the TMC about the case. We also told them that she could require a ventilator bed with all critical support. When she was brought to the hospital her oxygen level was very low. However, we continued to provide her all critical care as the TMC did not respond to our request," a Jupiter Hospital spokesperson was quoted as saying.
The woman's family said that they had paid Rs 28 lakh and as they had not cleared the remaining Rs 8 lakh, the hospital refused to hand over the body.
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