Tamil Nadu: 5 hospitals face 3-month suspension for using old stents on poor patients

Five private hospitals in Tamil Nadu found using old stents on poor patients. Four of them face suspension from the empanelled list. Close to 32 private hospitals were pulled up in Coimbatore, 27 in Erode and Kanyakumari, 26 in Madurai.

Five private-run hospitals in Tamil Nadu faced the ire of government authorities as theyw ere caught implanting stents past their expiry dates on poor patients under the state-sponsored insurance schemes. However, what baffled everyone was the penalty they were subjected to. While four received 3-month suspension from the government-empanelled list, only one challenged the decision in court and the decision is pending.

Studying the death audits of poor patients under the CM's comprehensive health insurance scheme, the state has, since 2012 found 60 other private hospitals of medical negligence. While most of them faced meagre actions of suspensions varying from one month to half a year. However, all of them were brought back in the government's good books. In the past four years, the government has de-empanelled or briefly suspended 337 private hospitals from the insurance schemes for various instances of medical negligence. Some of these hospitals were also reprimanded for deaths for medical negligence, low performance or any kind of violation. Some have also been booked for overcharging. However, most of them are now back on the list.

Close to 32 private hospitals were pulled up in Coimbatore, 27 in Erode and Kanyakumari, 26 in Madurai. Close to 14 hospitals were removed from the empanelled list in Chennai.