The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission on Monday asked the Charnock Hospital in Teghoria to pay Rs 5 lakh to the family of a patient who was discharged from the hospital at a time when her condition was still “critical”.

The 29-year-old woman died the next day at another hospital.

The woman was admitted to the hospital with gynaecological problems on October 5. She underwent a surgery on October 6, said retired judge Ashim Banerjee, the chairperson of the commission.

“The woman started having complications within 24 hours of undergoing the surgery...,” Banerjee added.

The woman was then discharged on October 18, but Banerjee said she was still not in a condition for discharge.

During Monday’s hearing, officials of Charnock Hospital told the commission that the patient was discharged because her family wanted to take her away as they were unable to bear the cost of the treatment. “We told the hospital that the patient’s family was unable to bear the cost because a lot of complications developed after the surgery...” said Banerjee.

The commission also asked AMRI Hospital Dhakuria to refund Rs 60,000 to a patient’s family as the commission found that the hospital did not offer discounts on consumables and pharmacy products on the bill.

The 73-year-old woman was admitted underwent treatment in the hospital in January. The hospital had billed Rs 2.40 lakh for nine days.

RSV Hospital in Tollygunge was asked to return Rs 82,000 to a patient for the same reason. The man was admitted in the hospital with Covid-19 in November. RSV Hospital had charged more as doctors’ fee.

The commission also asked Quadra Medical Services Private Limited to pay the amount of a CA Serum 125 test to a patient.

Banerjee that the results showed that person had higher than normal values, after which the person underwent the same test at another place. When the second result came as normal, he lodged a complaint against Quadra.

“We have said that results of such diagnostic tests must be matched with the diagnosis of the concerned doctor. If the doctor feels there is something abnormal, they always tell the patient to go for a repeat test. Our point is that if the second test shows that the first result was wrong and the second test’s result matches with the doctor’s diagnosis then the amount of the first test must be returned by the laboratory where the first test was done.”