Africa-Press – Uganda. Core to the law suit is a mother, Tereza Namugenyi, who was admitted to Paramount Hospital in Kampala with Covid-19 on May 30
Health minister Jane Ruth Aceng has been sued before the Lira High Court in connection with huge medical bills being charged for treatment and management of Covid-19.
Core to the law suit is a mother, Tereza Namugenyi, who was admitted to Paramount Hospital in Kampala with Covid-19 on May 30.
In an affidavit to support the case against the Health minister and the Attorney General, Mr Toffa Tamale, the son of the deceased says his mother was admitted to Paramount hospital Makerere after she suffered a heart attack.
“We were later told by the medical personnel that my mother was also suffering from Covid-19 and for that reason, she was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit,” Mr Tamale states in his affidavit.
He adds: “My mother was later on, discontinued from oxygen in favour of an Asian patient, who according to the doctors was more critically ill than her. After three days off oxygen, my mother’s health condition worsened and she eventually died.”
Mr Toffa says the hospital management demanded Shs31m before his mother’s body could be released for burial.
“This amount was exorbitant and excessively high and as a family, we could not afford it. Bearing in mind, the circumstances under which my mother died, it was not only unfair but also unreasonable for the hospital to demand such an exorbitant amount,” he states in his court documents.
“Despite various demands to the management of Paramount hospital, they deliberately refused to release my late mother’s body, instead used it as a bait to compel us pay the excessive hospital bills.” he adds.
Mr Tamale now wants court to declare that minister Aceng and government failed to standardise levies, rates and pricing of medical service provided by health facilities for legitimate purposes of availability, accessibility and affordability which threatens and violates the patients’ rights.
He also wants court to issue a compelling order to urgently consult all stakeholders and formulate and introduce fair and affordable payment ceilings for all medical treatments provided by private health facilities and the same be published in places accessible to the general public.
The petitioner also wants government to restrain private hospitals from holding dead bodies over unpaid bills.
In a new development, the Lira High Court has decided to forward the case file to Kampala for quick management.
“The above case was registered at Lira High Court yesterday (Wednesday), however, the resident judge has directed me to transfer it to your office for onward transmission to High Court Civil Division as per the directive of the Principal Judge for quick management,” Ms Jeneva Natukunda, the deputy registrar of Lira High Court, said in her letter to the registrar of the High Court in Kampala.
The ongoing transmission of the case file comes at the time when the High Court in Kampala by way of consent agreement in a similar case, yesterday issued orders, compelling government to regulate the skyrocketing medical fees currently charged for treating and managing Covid-19 patients.
