The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission on Monday asked a diagnostic laboratory in the city to immediately stop all surgeries as it lacked any licence to do so.
The commission issued the order while hearing complaints for the first time since Calcutta High Court said on Wednesday that the panel has no right to fix hospital charges.
On Monday, the commission did not ask any clinical establishment to pay a penalty or make any refund for not adhering to its advisories regarding rates.
Retired judge Ashim Banerjee, chairperson of the commission, said a centre of Pulse Diagnostics operating from 96/2A Sarat Bose Road was conducting surgeries.
“We checked their clinical establishment licence. They have the licence to operate as a sample collection centre, to conduct endoscopy and to run an outdoor clinic with 10 doctors. They have no licence to conduct surgeries,” he said.
“They can only collect samples, run the OPD clinic and perform endoscopy.... We have asked the establishment to stop all surgeries immediately.”
Banerjee said representatives of Pulse Diagnostics said during the hearing that they were doing surgeries in association with a hospital in Hyderabad.
When the commission asked Pulse how they would manage a patient if any complications arose during surgery or later, they said they had a tie-up with a neighbouring hospital, Banerjee said.
“We have also asked the state’s director of health services to keep a close vigil on this clinical establishment,” the chairperson said.
“We were not aware of the surgeries being done. Immediately after the order of the commission, we have cancelled our tie-up with the Hyderabad hospital,” said Ramesh Agarwal, general manager of Pulse Diagnostics.
The practice came to light after a woman complained against Pulse.
Banerjee said commission had not passed any order on the complaint and asked for medical records from the complainant and Pulse Diagnostics.
Monday’s was an interim order, Banerjee said.
Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya of the high court said in an order on Wednesday last week that “the advisories and the order (issued by the commission to fix rates at private medical establishments)are unconstitutional and are not binding on the petitioners”.
The commission has issued several advisories and an order fixing charges at private hospitals.
“The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission shall therefore recall and rescind the impugned advisories and is prohibited from giving any effect to the impugned advisories and order to the extent of fixation of rates and charges for clinical establishments,” the high court’s order reads.
In an order issued on June 2, 2021, the commission had fixed the charge for the chest X-ray (PA view) at Rs 400. It has also said blood tests to measure sodium, potassium and chloride levels should not cost more than Rs 450. Many private hospitals had said the rates were unviable.
When asked by The Telegraph later on Monday Banerjee refused to comment whether the commission could hear complaints of overcharging by hospitals.
He said that the commission would appeal against the high court’s order.
A complaint listed for hearing on Monday was related to overcharging, but the hospital informed the commission that it had returned the amount to the complainant and the commission did not have to intervene.