Jharkhand Health Minister orders crack down on private hospitals holding bodies over unpaid bills

Ranchi, Dec 8: Jharkhand’s newly appointed Health Minister, Dr. Irfan Ansari, has announced a decisive move to ensure that private hospitals do not withhold the bodies of deceased patients over unpaid bills. Speaking in Dhanbad on Sunday, Dr. Ansari declared that if a patient dies during treatment, private hospitals will be required to hand over the body to the relatives without insisting on bill payment.

“If any private hospital refuses to follow this order, strict action will be taken against them,” Dr. Ansari warned. He added that the Health Department would send letters to the District Commissioners (DC) and Superintendents of Police (SP) of every district to enforce this directive.

Dr. Ansari also voiced his concern over private hospitals treating health care as a business. “This practice of turning health care into a money-making business will be stopped at all costs,” he stated, while also emphasizing that action would be taken against fake doctors operating in the state. The minister further pledged to make government hospitals in Jharkhand better than those in Delhi, providing accessible and high-quality health care for all.

In response to Dr. Ansari’s bold statement, former MLA Bhanu Pratap Shahi raised doubts about the authenticity of the health minister’s medical degree. “Now, Dr. Irfan Ansari must prove whether he is a real doctor or a fake doctor from Russia, as he claims to have an MBBS degree from there,” Shahi remarked, challenging Dr. Ansari to prove the legitimacy of his qualifications.