Set up grievance mechanism for patients detained by hospitals: Bombay High Court to state

The Bombay High Court has asked the Maharashtra government to develop within six weeks a mechanism that would enable the state to take action against hospitals and doctors who detain patients and hold up bodies due to the non-payment of medical bills.

A division bench of justice Abhay Oka and justice Prakash Naik said on Wednesday: "Whenever a case of illegal detention comes up, the criminal law is set into motion. Therefore a grievance redressal mechanism needs to be set up, which would enable the state to take action on the basis of complaints filed by patients and their family members."

The court has also asked the state to consider the representations of all stake holders before forming the committee. The associations of hospitals and medical consultants have been told to address the issue accordingly.

The court's direction was given during the hearing of a bunch of petitions regarding patients being detained by hospitals as their family and relatives could not pay their medical bills. The petitions said there were many instances where patients were detained or bodies were not handed over to families due to the non-payment of bills.

Amicus Curiae (friend of the court) Madhav Thorat argued that there should be a regulation to deal with this issue, without which the high court cannot issue a writ of mandamus or direction in this matter.

Advocate Rui Rodrigues, who appeared for the association of hospitals, argued that it was not in favour of detaining patients for the non-payment of medical bills. He added, however, that a balance needs to be struck and a mechanism is required to be set up that would not put doctors at the receiving end. On the previous occasion, the court had also said that illegally detaining patients at hospitals was a crime, for which prosecution should be initiated.