(Rajiv Kalkod, TNN)
BANGALORE: A doctor from a Bangalore hospital has been arrested for fraud after he treated a police officer suffering from blood cancer and submitted a bill of Rs 74 lakh saying they have administered him an injection known as Accepton which is used to treat breast cancer.
Dr TR Hariprasad, managing director of KR Hospital and his administrative head PN Mahesh Kumar were arrested on Friday for allegedly producing fake medical bills to claim insurance.
It all began when assistant sub inspector Bette Gowda was diagnosed with blood cancer in November 2009 and approached Hariprasad. Though the hospital was not equipped to treat cancer patients, he agreed to treat when Gowda told him that he had ‘Arogya Bhagya’ insurance, a cashless facility given to government employees.
Every month, Hariprasad treated Gowda and gave him Imalek 400mg tablet. “These tablets cost Rs 300 per tablet and Hariprasad gave 30 such tablets on every visit,” said deputy commissioner of police, South, HS Revanna. The actual annual cost would come anywhere between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.2 lakh.
In the claim form, Hariprasad said that he had administered Accepton injection which costs around Rs 2.5 lakh per piece. “Accepton injection is used only to treat breast cancer,” Revanna said.
The racket came to light when Hariprasad submitted bills to the police department on behalf of the patient.
Revanna was astonished seeing the amount and he suspected the genuineness of the bills. Alok Kumar, IG, grievances cell, then forwarded all documents including medical bills and prescription to Kidwai Memorial Hospital.
“Kidwai doctors clearly told us that nowhere in the world are men treated with breast cancer injection. Immediately a complaint was lodged and we arrested Dr Hariprasad after he confessed to the crime,” police said.
“This is not the first case where KR hospital doctors have faked insurance claims. They are facing several such allegations and we are looking into them,” police said.
