Unmasking Medical Frauds: How Patients are Being Overcharged in India’s Healthcare System!
India’s healthcare sector is increasingly being criticized for overcharging patients for common conditions like heart attacks, typhoid, and kidney failure. There are growing concerns about hospitals, doctors, and pharmaceutical companies exploiting patients through inflated drug prices, unnecessary commissions, and unethical practices.
Discrepancies in Drug Pricing
For example, when a patient suffers a heart attack, doctors recommend an injection of Streptokinase. The MRP for this injection is ₹9,000, but the actual market price is between ₹700 and ₹900. Similarly, for typhoid treatment, doctors prescribe antibiotics like Monosof, which can be purchased wholesale for ₹25 per tablet. However, hospital pharmacies charge patients ₹53 for the same tablet.
Kidney Dialysis Exploitation
Patients suffering from kidney failure require dialysis every three days. The MRP for Modutrex injection used in dialysis is ₹1,800, but its actual cost is just ₹500. Unfortunately, these injections are often unavailable in the open market, as pharmaceutical companies restrict supply to hospitals and doctors, leaving patients with no choice but to pay the inflated prices.
Commissions and Overpricing
Doctors often prescribe branded drugs that must be purchased from hospital medical shops, where the MRP is often three times the wholesale price. Moreover, diagnostic tests like ultrasounds, which cost around ₹750 in the market, are billed at inflated prices in hospitals, with doctors reportedly receiving commissions. For MRI scans, doctors earn a commission ranging from ₹2,000 to ₹3,000 per patient.
Why is the Media Silent?
Despite these alarming discrepancies, mainstream media seems to focus on trivial matters—celebrity gossip, reality shows, and crime reports—rather than highlighting the exploitation in the healthcare sector. The influence of pharmaceutical lobbies is so strong that they appear to control not only the medical industry but also have a stranglehold on policy-making and public discourse.
A Question for the Common Man
Why do we protest when an auto-rickshaw driver overcharges us by ₹20 but stay silent when doctors and hospitals charge exorbitant fees for life-saving treatments? Why do we not hold the healthcare industry accountable for the financial burden it places on patients?
Call for Support
It’s essential to raise awareness about this growing issue. If you believe this exploitation is real, lend your support to create greater transparency in healthcare and fight for the rights of patients who are being overcharged and mistreated. The time to act is now!