Apollo Hospital served notice for charging money from poor patients

New Delhi, Nov 29 : The Delhi High Court has issued notice to Apollo Hospital for allegedly charging money from patients belonging to the economically weaker sections of society.

The court took suo moto cognisance on a letter written by Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital (LNJP) medical superintendent alleging that Apollo Hospital was charging money for treatment of poor patients referred by them.

"It is completely unfair on the part of Apollo that they are not abiding by orders of giving free treatment to poor," observed a division bench of Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar and asked the hospital to file its reply by Dec 9.

The court had earlier this year ordered Apollo Hospital to provide the patients from economically poor background free treatment and asked it to reserve 33 percent in-house beds for them.

"Health right is a fundamental right and no one should be devoid of this," the court said.

The court has also restricted the hospital from levying any sort of charges from the poor even for medical tests.

The hospital was given land by the government at concessional rates and the lease agreement stipulated that the economically poor should be given free treatment.