Top Mumbai hospital won't discharge patient unable to pay Rs 1.60L bill

Shekhar Poojari is 80 handicapped from below his waistA common adage is health is wealth But in the case of Shekhar Poojari 46 a physically handicapped waiter it may literally translate as after a medical scare that required him to be admitted to Hinduja Hospital he is now healthy but is allegedly not being allowed to leave by authorities because he cant afford to pay the bill a whopping Rs 160 lakh This despite him submitting all documents that proves he qualifies for benefits accorded to the weaker section patients under the Charity CommissionPoojaris disability certificateOn June 17 Poojari was on duty at his Prabhadevi workplace when he complained of high sugar and was rushed to the hospital by his colleagues At the time his colleagues and boss at the hotel Samuel Karkada managed to arrange for Rs 38000 to get him admitted But on July 3 when he was about to be discharged he was told his bill had climbed to Rs 160 lakh that would have be cleared before he was released Five days later ndash the cost of which will also be added to his alreadyhigh bill ndash he is still fighting authorities to come to an agreement as they have refused to accept his financial documents that prove he belongs to the weaker section patient categoryAlso read Pune Hospital ward boy thrashes stroke patient to wake him upThough with his income of Rs 96K a year Poojari is not BPL anymore he holds an orange ration card that signifies BPL status he however does qualify as a weaker section patientHave no savingsI tried to submit my electricity bill my orange BPL ration card he is not BPL anymore and salary documents signed by my boss but they didnt accept them I dont have so much money to give I have a wife and two children in Mangalore whom I have to send money from my limited income of Rs 8000 per month It has now been five days that I am forced to stay in the hospital and this is only adding to my bill rued PoojariAlso read Bhiwandi hospital shocker Doctors nurse filmed patient on OT tableTalking to midday his wife Usha Kiran who works as a domestic maid in Mangalore said I am really scared for my husband We are very poor we dont even have savings of Rs 1 lakh how will we pay such an amount We already lost most of our money when he had the accident that handicapped him 13 years agoBoss steps inKarkada who owns the restaurant where Poojari works said I went to the hospital to talk to the officer who handles such cases but the lady refused to take the documents stating patients keep making such excuses to claim concessions Is it not visible that he is physically handicapped And his economic condition is clear from his salary slip that I tried to submit How can anyone be so insensitiveAlso read Mumbai Noisy JJ Hospital nurses put expectant mothers psychiatric patients at riskNow the employees of the restaurant are trying to collect Rs 50000 to pay off a part of the bill We even said that we would pay another Rs 50000 if they can provide the concession as per the Charity Commission but they just refused They didnt even guide us if there were any documents needed he addedHospital saysWhen contacted the hospital spokesperson said We provide charitable treatment to the poor and needy patients in line with the guidelines of the HC In this particular case neither the patient nor his relative had approached our PRD during admission The patients employer approached us about 8 to 10 days back only with the patients salary letter He was then explained the hospitals policy for providing charitable treatment and was advised to submit the other required documents also The relevant documents have not been submitted by the patient or his employer till date nor have they approached our PRD department thereafter for any clarificationsExperts weigh inAccording to medical experts holding a patient in a hospital against his wish amounts to violation of human rights Ravi Duggal from Peoples Health Movement and country coordinator of International Budget Partnership said For whatever reason no hospital can hold back a patient without his wish for failure to pay the bill For such patients the hospitals that come under the umbrella of Charity Commission need to provide considerable concession