Intervenor Application filed in the Patna High Court for regulating the price of ambulance and emergency medical services during the pandemic
Mrityunjay Kumar Vs. State of Bihar & Others IA No. 4/ 21 in CWJC 353/2021 | Patna High Court | Status: Pending | |
An Intervenor Application (IA) has been filed by
Mrityunjay Kumar, who is an Advocate and a Social Activist in Bihar through the
team of Advocates of the Socio-Legal Information Centre, Patna in the ongoing case
CWJC 353/2021 Shivani Kaushik Vs The state of Bihar and Ors. to regulate the price
of Ambulance and essential medical services in the state during the second wave
of COVID-19. On March 29, 2020, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,
Directorate general of Health Services issued a detailed SOP to increase the
capacity of Ambulances in the district for transportation of covid patients and
the protocol which need to be followed. Thereafter on September 11, 2020, the
Supreme Court validated that the SOP issued by the Ministry need to be followed
along with the mentioned guidelines to increase the number of ambulances and
transportation of covid patients to hospitals irrespective of social status. On
April 21, 2021 a news report was published in Dainik Jagran pertaining to the
inflated cost of the ambulances in the state. Further, April 22,2021 another
news report was published by ZEE news Bihar depicting lack of oxygen facility
in the private ambulances and the way the drivers try to extort money based on
unreasonable charges and the dire situations of the patients. Based on the publication
of above reports, detailed SOP issued by the ministry and on various judicial
precedents, it is evident that the respondents did not abide by the strict
compliance of SOP, did not frame rules regarding price fixation, did not took
any action to ensure available and affordable ambulance services and did not
sought any effective remedy to the covid patients in the state. There is a need
of compulsory compliance of the Standard Operating Procedure by the state
issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Imposing price fixation
and ceiling limit on the medical essentials and lifesaving drugs, medicines,
injections, oxygen concentrators etc., and pharma companies to ramp up
production of drugs. Adequate supply of oxygen to the covid patients, ambulance
service (private and public) for the transportation of patients, facility of
required oxygen in the ambulances. With these prayers, the IA has been filed
and is pending as of now.