Dhaka hospital continued 'treatment' of dead patient to drive up bill, allege relatives

A Dhaka hospital has been accused of keeping a patient in treatment for an additional week after his death in a bid to drive up the bill.

The patient, Shahidul Islam, hailed from Lakshmipur's Ramganj Upazila. He had been undergoing treatment at the Universal Medical College and Hospital in Dhaka's Mohakhali with kidney complications from May 14.  

His relatives alleged that the hospital authority kept them in the dark over his condition for a week. They eventually received news of Shahidul's death upon a visit to the hospital on Friday.  

The hospital charged the family for 23 kidney dialysis conducted in 20 days, according to Shahidul's son Kamal.

“How is it possible to do 23 kidney dialysis in 20 days. We tried several times to shift him to another hospital but the authority would not allow us. I believe my father died on Jun 14 but they wanted to make more money by keeping him under treatment." 

The total cost of care outlined in the payment invoice hit Tk 1 million, Kamal said. 

Another relative, Shahadat Hossain, affirmed Kamal's claims that his father had died earlier than the date provided by the hospital.

“The hospital authority would call us regularly to ask for payment. But they stopped mentioning the bill for the last seven days. This aroused our suspicion before they later confirmed the patient's demise on Friday in the face of growing pressure from us."  

The hospital's Managing Director Dr Ashish Kumar Chakraborty denied the allegation when contacted.  

"We have tried our best to save him but we failed. Both of his kidneys failed and he was brought to the hospital in a critical condition." he said.

"The allegation is fictitious."