A day after Artemis Hospital was accused of overcharging for the treatment of a 17-month-old baby who died hours after admission, the hospital on Friday said it had waived off portion of the bill which the family was unable to pay.
 

The family of Sudipa Debnath had alleged that the hospital handed over a bill of Rs. 46,000 for barely four hours of treatment, that too when they had lost their child. According to Artemis Hospital, they got a call from Cloudnine Hospital after midnight on Wednesday about a very critically ill baby who they wanted to shift to Artemis Hospital for intensive care.

"Doctor from Artemis Hospital with ambulance immediately went to Cloudnine to escort the baby. The baby arrived at 02.30 am in the ER, where she was given all the necessary life saving treatments and was shifted to the Paediatric intensive care unit," said the Artemis statement. It said that the baby's condition was extremely critical on admission as she didn't have recordable blood pressure and was unable to maintain the oxygen level in blood.

"She was put on mechanical ventilation and was given medicines to improve her blood pressure and other problems. In spite of all the efforts, the child later succumbed to the disease," according to the hospital. On the issue of the bill, the hospital said that the family was kept informed of the critical condition of the child and high risk for life.

The child's father deposited only Rs. 20,000 as against the bill amount of Rs. 45,763 and the remaining amount was waived off by the hospital. However, the family alleged that Artemis doctors had told them that the condition of the baby was not all that critical and that she would recover soon. But, only hours later around 5.30 a.m., they were told that the baby had died. Shocked over the death, the parents of the deceased tried to talk to the doctors, but according to them, the doctors declined to even speak to them and instead handed over the final bill of Rs. 45,763.