Woman Patient In Odisha Denied Discharge From Hospital For 'Not Paying Bribe'

Baripada: The Rairangpur sub-divisional hospital here has come under scanner after a doctor allegedly demanded money to discharge a woman patient following her treatment on Friday.

According to reports, one Dinabandhu Majhi of Tiring village in Mayurbhanj district had admitted his pregnant wife Khudi Murmu to the Rairangpur hospital after she complained of acute pain in her abdomen on Thursday.

During her treatment, the doctor removed Murmu's 51-day-old foetus as medical reports indicated that the foetus had died in the womb due to reasons unknown. However, the doctor allegedly asked Rs 1000 for the treatment, further threatening that Murmu will not be discharged if her family fails to pay the money.

"The doctor told us that I would be discharged from the hospital only when we pay him Rs 1000. However, we could not pay the money as we didn't have," alleged Khudi Murmu.

Left with no option, Khudi's family members sought Sub Divisional Medical Officer (SDMO), Chattis Chandra Mohanty's intervention in the matter, following which the woman was discharged from the hospital yesterday.

The SDMO, however, denied such allegation. "I am not sure whether there is any truth in the allegations levelled by the woman's family. It will be known only when I ask the doctor who attended her. She was treated here free of cost and provided with medicines. No medicine was prescribed for her to buy from outside," he clarified.