Can A Hospital Detain A Dead Body/ Patient For Unpaid Bills?
A 60-year-old man was recently confined to a hospital bed when his family failed to deliver his medical expenses. Such incidents occur far more frequently than they are reported. By detaining the patient, the hospital is restricting the patient's liberty.
Confining a patient to a hospital for unpaid bills is illegal
Patients are frequently held "hostage" by healthcare institutions/hospitals even after they should be medically discharged, with armed guards, sealed doors, and even chains used to extort money for unpaid bills. Even death doesn't ensure release, as morgues detain bodies for outstanding hospital bills.
Confining a person in a hospital without lawful justification will amount to wrongful confinement as defined under Section 340 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The burden of proof is initially on the individual to establish that he was imprisoned, but after that is proved, the burden shifts to the detaining hospital authorities to establish that they had valid grounds for imprisonment. Hospitals have no legal authority to detain a person for failing to pay their bills. Merely because the hospital is giving outstanding treatments to the patients, it is no ground to detain the patient and deprecated the practice (Devesh Singh Chauhan v. State & Ors.)
What are the rights of patients for unpaid bills?
Patients have been provided with various rights such as the right to records, right to medical emergency care, right to informed consent, right to non-discrimination, right to be discharged, etc. as per the Charter of Patients’ Rights, released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and prepared by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
Article 21 read with Directive Principles guaranteed under Articles 39(e), 41, and 43 makes the right to health and medical care a Fundamental Right. Despite the rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution, hospitals often detain a person for non-payment of bills or to possess a deceased person's body. This practice is not only illegal, but it is also squarely barbaric and torturous for both the individual detained and their relatives. (Consumer Education and Research Centre v. Union of India)
The government hospitals and medical officers are duty bound to provide medical assistance to their patients and failure in doing so would violate Article 21 under the Constitution of India. The hospitals cannot refuse to provide medical treatments to the patients on the ground that they are unable to pay the expenses of the treatment. Public health is also under State List under List-II under the Constitution of India. (Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samiti v. State of West Bengal)
Article 21 of India's Constitution guarantees all citizens the right to personal liberty and forbids inhumane treatment. Despite the rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution, hospitals have been found guilty of detaining a person for non-payment of bills or for possessing a deceased person's body. This practice is not only illegal, but it is also squarely barbaric and torturous for both the individual detained and their relatives.
NHRC's draft, a step toward redressal for aggrieved patients
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has created a draft charter that may come to the rescue of distressed patients and their relatives in situations accounting for a hospital's misconduct. It provides a redressal mechanism for the families of the patients to put forward their grievances.
The draft states the patient and caregivers have the right to a fair and prompt redressal of their grievances and receive in writing the outcome of the complaint within 15 days from the date of the receipt of the complaint.
According to the Charter of Patient Rights or applying existing laws, every hospital and clinical establishment has the responsibility to establish an internal redressal mechanism as well as fully comply and cooperate with official redressal mechanisms, including making all relevant information available and acting in full accordance with orders of the redressal body. Patients and caregivers have the right to seek remedies if they are harmed as a result of an infringement of any of the charter's rights.
Ankur Tiwari, Partner, BeIN Legal LLP, opines that there is a prompt need for comprehensive legislation that directly addresses the issue of hospital misconduct while also striking a balance between the rights of doctors and hospitals by establishing a mechanism for recovery of their legal dues. There have been reported cases where doctors and hospital staff has been found on the receiving end when families and relatives have created a nuisance in the hospital over hefty unpaid discharge bills.
A balance needs to be maintained between the patients who are unable to pay and thereby unlawfully detained in the hospital and the hospitals who receive threats and assaults. Proper guidelines should be enforced in order to protect the rights of the patients and the hospitals too.
The current legal scenario can be used arbitrarily by the patients which makes it unjust for the hospitals and their hardworking workers. The hospital too has the right to recover timely dues for the treatments provided by them. Some type of mechanism has to be introduced for the hospitals in order to receive the rightful dues. And NHRC's draft bill on the issue can be a good starting point.
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