“The patient was suffering from breast cancer and was on ventilator since almost one week. She passed away on Wednesday midnight and we requested the hospital to handover her body. A bill amounting to over 85,000 was unpaid. We requested the hospital to take half the amount in cash and the rest by cards, but they refused. We did not have enough cash as the ATMs were not dispensing money,” said Shekhar Wakode, a relative. The hospital reportedly refused to release the dead body till the entire bill was settled, allege relatives.
Dr Amar Bhide, co-coordinator of Thane Health Care hospital, told TOI that they had asked the relatives to take the body and that they would accept payments through cards. The patient’s family could not share any specific names as to who had refused to accept card payment, Bhide claimed.
“The patient ran up a bill of Rs 1.8 lakh, the family had made an initial card payment of Rs 67,000 on April 8. Their balance was Rs 1.13 lakh and after a Rs 28,000 rebate, they had to pay Rs 85,000. The family always delayed in making payment hence they were asked to clear their bills, but they were not stopped from taking the body,” added Bhide.