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A very shocking and serious news is coming out from Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, which is considered a big hub of the entire state in terms of medical and health services, which is shaking the health system. A recent detailed investigation and report has revealed how the pockets of patients and their attendants undergoing treatment in many big and renowned private hospitals of Lucknow are being openly looted. According to the report, these private hospitals purchase life-saving medicines and medical surgical consumables from the wholesale market or pharma companies at very low prices—i.e., at huge discounts of up to 60 percent—but when the bills are handed over to the patients, they are charged the full maximum retail price (MRP) of the medicines. Patients suffering from serious diseases and their families are already burdened with huge hospital bed charges, doctor’s fees and investigation expenses, in such a situation, this kind of indiscriminate profiteering game on medicines is proving to be financially back-breaking for them. The general public and health organizations are now expressing strong anger against this unethical business practice and demanding strict action from the health department.
When a patient is admitted to a big private hospital in Lucknow in a critical condition, taking advantage of his emergency condition and the unwavering trust he has on the doctors, the hospital management starts charging arbitrary prices for medicines through its in-house pharmacy. It is made a compulsion for the patients to buy medicines from the pharmacy inside the hospital, because the permission to bring goods from outside medicine shops is either very limited or is banned in the name of rules. The medicines or injections which are available in the wholesale drug markets at 40 per cent or even less price, are added to the hospital bills at 100 per cent MRP. In this way, during the treatment of a single patient, the hospital management is directly earning additional profit of thousands and lakhs of rupees on the medicine bill, due to which the common and middle class families are directly suffering the loss, who spend a large part of their hard-earned money on treatment.
Health policy makers and consumer rights experts believe that in a field as sacred and humanitarian as medicine, this type of commercial exploitation should not be tolerated at any cost. When hospitals start treating patients as commercial consumers in the name of treatment, the basic ethical objective of medicine is lost. Many times it has also been seen that in the prescriptions written by the doctors, such special branded medicines are written which are available only in the medical store of that hospital, due to which the patients are left with no other option but to buy the medicines at expensive prices. The Health Directorate and District Administration of Uttar Pradesh should immediately take cognizance of this serious matter so that these profiteering hospitals of Lucknow can be controlled and the patients can be saved from this economic exploitation.
After such cases have come to light, the demand has started gaining momentum from the conscious citizens of the city, social workers and victims’ families that the government should keep a close watch on the pharmacy of private hospitals and their billing system. It should be made mandatory for hospitals to maintain a transparent balance between the actual cost of drugs purchased in bulk and the prices charged from patients, so as to prevent excessive profiteering. From time to time, surprise inspection and stock audit of the medical stores of these hospitals should be conducted by the health department teams to know at what rate they are purchasing the medicines from the wholesalers and at what rate they are selling them to the patients. Only strict punitive action like canceling the licenses of hospitals violating the rules can stop this type of trend.
Unless some comprehensive and strict policy steps are taken by the administration, patients and their relatives also need to be completely cautious on their part. Be frank about the list of medicines and their prices in the estimate you receive before hospitalization or during treatment, and if possible, request the doctor to prescribe generic or generic brand medicines that are easily available over the counter and at lower prices. Your little awareness and habit of asking questions can not only save you money but can also help in curbing the evil practices of these profiteering hospitals. Health and life are precious, and no one should have the right to rob your pocket by taking advantage of your helplessness.