MP Sanjeev Arora calls for action if hospitals withhold dead body of patient for any reason
Sanjeev Arora has stressed upon the need to create awareness among the public that as per the Charter of Patients’ Rights, the dead body cannot be held hostage by the hospital even if the deceased person's hospital bill is not paid.
3 min read
Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora. (File Photo) Sanjeev Arora, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP and member of parliamentary ad hoc committee on health and family welfare, has stressed upon the need to create awareness among the masses that as per the Charter of Patients’ Rights, the dead body cannot be held hostage by the hospital even if the deceased person’s hospital bill is not paid.
In a statement here on Saturday, Arora said that such incidents still are happening despite this right being in place in the country. He said, “I advise the administration of all districts to ensure that all citizens are aware of this right and severe action is taken against violators.”
Arora said that a question in this regard was raised in a recent Rajya Sabha session by his colleague from Haryana, Kartikeya Sharma. Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar had replied that as per the guidelines of the Charter of Patients’ Rights and Responsibilities, as approved by National Council for Clinical Establishments, a statutory body, the hospitals cannot deny the release of a deceased patient’s body to his/her relatives citing any reason. The charter has been approved under the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010.
“The union minister had said that the charter has been shared with all the states and Union Territories for adoption and implementation, so that grievances and concerns of patients are addressed while ensuring a smooth and cordial environment in clinical establishments. He said that the governments of the respective states and Union Territory should take appropriate steps to protect the family of a deceased from instances of exploitation by the hospitals,” Arora said.
Further, Arora said that he would ask the district administrations to ensure that the Charter of Patients’ Rights and Responsibilities are properly displayed in all the hospitals so that there is no violation of patients’ rights by the hospitals across the state.
He categorically stated that he would be ready to extend all kinds of help in creating a mass awareness in this regard. “Detaining of a dead body of a patient is a great violation of human rights,” Arora remarked.
Ludhiana-based lawyer and Punjab’s former additional advocate general Harpreet Sandhu said that confining a dead body in a hospital will amount to wrongful confinement as defined under Section 340 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
Further, Sandhu said that hospitals have no legal authority to detain a body for failing to pay their bills. “Merely because the hospital is giving outstanding treatments to the patients, there is no ground to detain the dead body,” he said.
He said 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 dead body 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 the public at large. Hence, the law is clear and hospitals can’t retain the dead body as it amounts to illegal confinement punishable under Section 340 of Indian Penal Code,” Sandhu reiterated.
You May Like
Photos
