Private hospital denies overcharging surgical patient

Jun 13, 2009 News

– woman with uterine fibroids claims
she was asked to pay $30,000 more for operation

Officials at the Dr. Balwant Singh Hospital have denied overcharging a patient by some $30,000 for uterine fibroid surgery at the East Street institution.
But the patient has alleged that she was asked to pay more than the hospital had said the surgery would cost, and that only the intervention of a relative caused the officials to revert to the original figure.
The woman, Hardar Hakande, was admitted to the clinic on Tuesday for the operation.
She told Kaieteur News that hospital officials informed her that the surgical procedure and other medical expenses would total $200,000.
Ms. Hakande said that she had the operation after making a deposit of $140,000. But yesterday, when she went to pay the $60,000 balance after being discharged, she was told that she had a $90,000 balance for the clinic.
The hospital reverted to the original cost when a relative berated officials at the institution over their apparent exploitation.
Contacted yesterday, hospital official Dr. Madhu Singh, confirmed that Ms. Hakande was originally informed that her surgery and other expenses would cost $200,000.
However, Dr. Singh explained that expenses the hospital incurred during the surgical procedure exceeded the anticipated figure. This could occur when the hospital has to solicit the services of other specialists.
The official said that when this occurs, the hospital would foot the expenses if the patient is unable to meet them.
According to Dr. Singh, hospitals in the US would ask patients to sign documents, informing them of possible additional expenses during a surgical procedure.
But Managing Director of the Kaieteur News, Mr. Glenn Lall, also stated that he had an upsetting experience at the institution. According to Mr. Lall, he went to the East Street hospital some time ago to test his cholesterol level.
Mr. Lall said he was not informed that he should fast before the test, and the results indicated that his cholesterol level was abnormally high.
But the Kaieteur News Managing Director said he subsequently learned that his results could be rendered inaccurate because he had eaten.
He therefore returned to the clinic for a second examination, but ensured that he had fasted.
According to Mr. Lall, the medical staff conceded that his first results would have been inaccurate because he had not been properly advised.
But he said what was particularly upsetting was that the staff asked him to pay for the second cholesterol examination.
The Managing Director said that he refused, since he had been misinformed in the first instance.
He revealed that when the hospital officials finally agreed to have it done free of cost, the results revealed that his cholesterol level was not as high as it has originally appeared to be.
Confirming that this incident had occurred, Dr. Singh conceded that it was preferable that patients fast before undergoing the cholesterol test.
But she said that staff would sometimes conduct the examination even if patients had not fasted, particularly if they were residing out of town.

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