THE High Court ordered hospitals and clinics not to hold body of a deceased if his or her family fails to immediately pay the medical bill to release the body. It has also asked the Health Secretary and the Director General of the Directorate of Health Services to issue a circular in this regard.
The court also directed them to create a fund for paying the medical bill if any poor people die in a hospital or clinic. Because once a man or woman is dead the body can’t be held hostage, it is contrary to human value and dignity of the deceased who deserves hassle free burial. The HC Bench of Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Justice Md Ataur Rahman Khan came up with the directive after hearing a writ petition moved by Advocate Manzil Murshid. He filed the petition in June 2012 after the Bangla daily Jugantor had published a report blaming City Hospital in the city’s Mohammadpur for not handing over the body of a baby to his parents as they failed to clear the medical bill.
According to the newspaper reports, Rokeya Begum, who hails from Gazipur’s Kapasia, gave birth to the baby in April that year. The baby became sick and his father admitted the boy into City Hospital where he died. The child’s medical bill stood at Tk 42,000, but his parents could pay only Tk 15,000 and sought time to clear the remaining fees later. The hospital management however refused to hand over the body sending the helpless parents to collect money. The HC has described the hospital authorities’ refusal to hand over the child’s body to his parents as inhuman and a violation of human rights.
This is very nice but will the verdict be followed remains the big question? This is such a human consideration that it should be duly welcome by the hospitals. It should be possible to create special funds on such human consideration. It may be possible for the Health Ministry to be helpful in this regard. The most important consideration should be not to create such problem initially to ensure that the hospitals do not face this kind of crisis.
