Archive for month: June, 2024

Ahmedabad: The Ahmedabad Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (AHNA) has issued a legal notice to Tata AIG Gen Insurance Co for arbitrarily “delisting/excluding” 81 hospitals in the city without following the proper procedure. 

The association has warned that if the insurer does not reverse the delisting decision, the association, which represents approximately 1,000 member hospitals, will initiate a boycott of Tata AIG General Insurance Co. This would result in the unavailability of cashless or reimbursement facilities for any Tata AIG policyholders starting from July 15th.

This comes after the insurance firm allegedly published the delisted hospital’s names on its website without giving any valid reasons or an opportunity for the delisted hospitals to defend themselves.

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Earlier, a formal letter was sent but the insurance firm did not respond to the letter following which the association sent a legal notice in this regard. AHNA vice-president Dr Viren Shah termed the insurer’s move “against the principle of natural justice”.

As per The Indian Express news report, AHNA president Dr Bharat Gadhavi said, “When AHNA and hospital representatives tried to contact the insurance company officials, they gave irresponsible answers. A letter sent by AHNA did not elicit any response from Tata AIG Insurance and hence, it was decided to send a legal notice to the company. The list put up by Tata AIG has been replicated by some other private insurance companies as well and they, too, have kept these 81 hospitals in a ‘delisted/excluded’ list.”

Further, AHNA representatives informed that they have received complaints from patients and member hospitals that some of the insurers are informing their patients not to take treatment in hospitals having less than 15 beds. The association has decided to take legal action against such firms.

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Emcure Pharmaceuticals, backed by Bain Capital, is set to float its Initial Public Offering (IPO) on July 3. The initial share sale will run until July 5, with bidding for anchor investors opening on July 2, as detailed in the Red Herring Prospectus (RHP).

The IPO includes a fresh issuance of equity shares totaling Rs 800 crore and an Offer for Sale (OFS) of 1.14 crore equity shares by promoters and existing shareholders.

Rajkot: A major scam in the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) scheme recently came to light in Rajkot, where a paediatric hospital has been fined Rs 6.54 crore for committing irregularities under the scheme in the case of 116 patients.

According to a TOI report, the hospital allegedly tampered with medical reports and submitted inflated bills to the Health Department for its approval. The irregularities came to light during the investigation conducted by the Health Department.

The Health Department probe for over 45 days uncovered the irregularities conducted by the doctor, who runs the hospital located on Laxmi Nagar Main Road.

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As per the latest media report by the Times of India, the District Health Authority has informed that for these 116 patients, modified reports were sent for approval with a total claim amount of Rs 65.47 lakh. 

The District Health team started to probe the issue after detecting the anomalies. Standard Procedures require the doctors to send the lab reports and x-rays to justify the diagnosis of the patient. Under the PMJAY scheme, a patient can get up to Rs 10 lakh worth free treatment, with different packages for different types of diseases.

However, as per the officials, the doctor at the hospital admitted the children to the NICU for an extended period by tampering with the lab reports. This was done by the hospital to garner more funds.

To verify the records of 524 children, the Health Department team visited the laboratories, gathered the test reports and matched the same with the reports that the hospital had submitted for claims. Allegedly, the reports were manipulated on the computers at the hospital.

Taking note of these irregularities, the Health Department issued a penalty notice on Friday and asked the hospital to pay a fine of Rs 6.54 crore, ten times the claim amount of Rs 65.47 lakh.

Apart from this, the hospital has also been debarred from the PMJAY scheme and is also facing de-registration. Strict action might also be taken against the doctor, who may lose his licence to practise.

Commenting on the matter, the in-charge chief district health officer, Dr. P K Singh told TOI, “The hospital tampered with the lab reports and x-ray reports. A committee in Gandhinagar approves the package based on these reports. The hospital had admitted 524 children since July last year. We found evidence of irregularities in the case of 116 children during our investigation.”

Medical Dialogues had last month reported that taking action against the paedistrician involved who was accused of manipulating the reports of the newborns to extract a huge sum of money from the Government’s Ayushman Bharat Scheme, the State Health Department has expelled him from the Ayushman Card scheme of health insurance. The doctor running the hospital was accused of having admitted perfectly healthy children to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to fraudulently obtain funds from the Ayushman scheme.

Also Read: Ayushman Bharat Fraud: Rajkot Paediatrician expelled for manipulating reports, extracting Rs 2.53 crore

In a study published in the Journal of Metabolic Health, researchers reviewed 23 clinical trials examining the effects of low-salt intake on glucose and insulin markers. Their findings suggested that reducing salt intake may have unintended negative effects, including increased insulin resistance, a significant risk factor for type 2 diabetes.

The analysis revealed that restricting salt consistently led to poorer blood sugar control and heightened insulin resistance. For instance, a moderate reduction in salt intake doubled fasting insulin levels in healthy young men within just one week. In patients with high blood pressure, an extreme low-salt diet significantly increased blood glucose and insulin spikes.

Reference:

James J. DiNicolantonio, James H. O’Keefe, et al,; Sodium restriction and insulin resistance: A review of 23 clinical trials; Journal of Metabolic Health