Private hospitals are not costly hotels, fumes SC

New Delhi: July 06, 2011

Criticizing the city’s big private hospitals for their steep charges, the Supreme Court said that they were acting like star hotels and had not kept their promise to treat the poor — 25% outdoor and 10% indoor — free of cost. “You got the land at a very cheap rate from the government because of this promise. If you admit a poor patient but ask him to pay for everything, it is not free treatment,” said a bench comprising Justices R V Raveendran and A K Patnaik as it gave the hospitals two weeks to prepare a comprehensive plan to give effective free treatment.

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