Hyderabad: K. Koteshwar Rao Naidu, a resident of Sanathnagar and a reformed alcoholic, dragged Shreyas Foundation, a non-profit hospital in Secunderabad to the consumer forum for not providing him the rehabilitation facilities they had promised and ill-treating him.
The complainant stated that he visited Shreyas to rid him of his alcohol addiction. He was very pleased with the head of the organisation’s account of the treatment facilities available and was assured that there was a full time psychiatrist.
Mr. Rao paid Rs 12,000 per month for treatment after his admission to the institution on January 10, 2015. He said he was shocked to see that there were no doctors or nurses and that some 50 patients were stuffed into a single room. When he raised these issues, he was tied to his bed and given sedative injections after being thrashed, he said.
He also stated that the person who used to give him sedative injections was always heavily under the influence of alcohol. Whenever he demanded to see the certificates of any medical personnel, he would be beaten.
When his wife demanded that he be discharged, this was not allowed, because she was told his course of treatment was not over. She was also told that he had a liver problem and was made to pay Rs 3,000 for some treatment. Mr Rao was also not allowed to contact his wife and relatives later on.
Mr Rao said he became depressed after he was discharged and had to pay Rs 50,000 for further treatment to regain his mental and physical health.
Shreyas Foundation contended that all the allegations were fabricated. It said that with any treatment, medicines can only work for 70 per cent of the time and the rest comes from the patient’s own efforts. They also stated that after admission, the complainant started pressurising his family members to bring him alcohol which is why he was not allowed to contact his family. They also stated that they have a staff of 10 members including a counsellor, caretakers, nursing staff and professional doctors. They alleged the complainant used foul language with the cleaning staff.
The Consumer Forum found that the hospital was exploiting the public and had no proper medical and paramedical staff or any registration or licence to run a rehabilitation centre. It had failed to prove its credentials by furnishing credible documents or having employee records and therefore the forum ruled in favour of the complainant, stating that the opposite party should pay Rs 33,415 to the complainant with an interest of 12 per cent per annum with effect from July 18, 2017 and Rs 50,000 towards costs.
