Private Hospitals need to be identified where Cost-Effective/Free Treatment for COVID-19 can be done: SC Tells Centre

On April 30th, the top court had issued notice in the plea filed by Sachin Jain and had observed that it could not interfere in matters of Private Hospitals, without giving them an opportunity of being heard.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the Union and stated that the cost of treatment in private hospitals for Covid 19 across the country ought to be minimum and charitable trust(s) may do it on no profit basis. On the last date, petitioner-in-person had submitted that there must be a regulation for all entities as government has given them unfettered powers to charge patients.

The plea averred that the issue of cost regulations across the country to private and corporate entities for treatment of COVID 19 patients was a matter of “urgent consideration” as many private hospitals were commercially exploiting patients suffering from the deadly virus “to make a fortune out of their miseries in the hour of national crisis”.

Thus, this matter was up for hearing a plea seeking nationwide cost related regulations for treatment of Corona virus patients at private and corporate hospitals. A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde, Justices AS Bopanna & Hrishikesh Roy directed the Centre to identify a list of those hospitals where minimum or free of cost treatment can be done for treatment of Corona virus and listed the matter after a week.

By Priyanka of SPPU