The bill was excessive. The criminal allegations were more so.
Issue -
September - 2026, Posted On: 01 September 2026
A billing dispute over a ₹2,500 diagnostic test eventually reached the Supreme Court, raising an important medico-legal question: when does an incorrect hospital bill become a criminal offence?
The patient had undergone successful surgery for a fractured femur and was discharged after treatment. Soon afterwards, the family noticed that the hospital bill included charges for an HRCT scan that had never been performed. They also alleged delay in receiving medical records and claimed hospital staff behaved improperly when the discrepancy was questioned.