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Hospital assures court on waiving test charges Wednesday, July 4, 2001

The Times of India News Service
AHMEDABAD: UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology has assured the Gujarat High Court that it will not recover any separate charges from patients for use of heart-lung machine for open heart surgery, exempt charges considering the financial status of patients and assist patients from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.

This was stated by the chief executive officer of the institute in a letter following a public interest litigation challenging the inaction of the state government in purchasing a heart-lung machine for the Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad.

The petition alleged that the inaction was for no other reason but to facilitate the trust or corporate hospitals to trade on sickness and mint money.

After hearing submissions made by assistant government pleader Manisha Lavkumar, a division Bench comprising Chief Justice DM Dharmadhikari and Justice KR Vyas rejected the petition.

Contending the deliberate delay in purchase of equipment and its accessories, petitioner Sanjay Patel claimed that the Civil Hospital is run by the state and has extraordinary facilities for the poor. Considering its requirement the authorities also approved and sanctions budget for the same in 1997, but was never purchased. Even tender notices were issued, but the matter was never pursued further.

Patel submitted that if the machine was installed as per the scheme, many patients would get treatment free of cost and many lives could be saved. The petitioner also sought that the grant be revalidated to install machinery and accessories at Civil Hospital.

The state government had filed an affidavit stating that open-heart surgeries and by-pass surgeries are carried out by the institute run by a private trust and located on the same compound as the Civil Hospital.

It was also stated that the state government had turned the Department of Cardiology at Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad, into an autonomous body run by the state government with an idea of providing better treatment for cardiac ailment, which has two such machines. The institute is equipped, has trained staff and hence there was no need of any more machines, the state submitted.

The court observed that once the state has made a judicious utilisation of available funds for providing better health and medical services, merely because budgetary provisions were made for purchase of equipment, the government cannot be compelled to purchase heart-lung machine.

News Source : Times Of India News Service [ Lightning News ]

 

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