NPPA directs CP Hyd, Drug Controller to submit action report on COVID bills

Hyderabad: Many people in the city are complaining about the hospitals not providing the breakup of bills and charging extra for the services.

A patient, Narayan Goud, was admitted in Yashoda Hospital, Somjiguda, on June 27 with Covid symptoms. His son, Vinay Goud, alleged that the bill given by the hospital did not have proper breakup. He also said that he was buying injections from outside even after the pharma company was supplying injections to the hospitals.

“My father had a breathing problem and the oxygen saturation level was low. After the test, the doctors said he was affected by Sars CoV2. They put him on ventilator without our consent and now, they gave me Rs 18 lakh bill,” said Vinay Goud.

Activists in the city are alleging that hospitals in Hyderabad are collecting more than MRP on medicines and also not providing itemised bills to the patients.

“For PPEs, one hospital charged Rs 8,000 each while even the best PPE will not cost more than

Rs 500. Each syringe is costing anything between Rs 18 to Rs 40, gloves were priced at Rs 70 each, surgical gowns of different types are being charged Rs 500 each. The private hospitals are charging heavily in the name of room charges. A patient is being charged simultaneously for the ward room and the ICU while a man can be present only at one place at any given time. The bills are being manipulated easily and there is nobody to complaint,” lamented a health activist, Vijay Gopal.

Gopal had written an email to the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) regarding the price range following which the deputy director of NPPA, Pankaj Kumar, asked the Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad, to coordinate with the Drug Controller and submit an action taken report.

“The local administration was requested to look into the matter with the co-ordination of State Drug Controller, Telangana. We also requested the government to issue necessary instructions to all the hospitals, including Yashoda Hospital, for issuing detailed bills to the patients,” added Pankaj Kumar.