Three hospitals in Mumbai have been found guilty of reusing medical devices meant for single use and charging multiple patients for the same.
Fortis Hospital in Mulund, Hiranandani Hospital in Vashi, which is managed by the Fortis group, and BSES Hospital in Andheri have been issued show-cause notices for violating the Drug and Cosmetics Act, reported the Times Of India.
This comes barely three months after the government cracked down on overpriced stents, when it was found that without an MRP patients were charged anywhere between 300-700 per cent of the price at which the hospital would have bought it.
Read Outlook's report: Heart For Mart's Sake.
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Quoting the FDA commissioner Harshdeep Kamble, the TOI report said “Based on information of recycling and reuse of medical devices on multiple patients, the FDA 's intelligence branch carried out an investigation between March 29 and April 1... These hospitals reused devices without taking consent or without giving prior information to patients."
The FDA team reportedly checked on drug notified medical devices such as guiding catheters and balloon catheters that are used for angioplasty and found that “Some hospitals charged an MRP of Rs 26,000 for catheters they purchased for Rs 6,000,“
The devices were, after single use, sent to the pharmacy for charging on the inpatient bill. “Later, these devices were sent to the central sterile supply department where they were cleaned and sterilised using ethylene oxide,“, the report quoted an FDI official as saying.
