Hospital releases patient’s body extracting pledge on payment

A hospital at Gulshan in the city has released the remains of a patient it was holding upon conditions that the family will pay off unpaid bills in installments. The private hospital handed the mortal remains of Md Aslam of Moghbazar to his family on Sunday evening. His daughter Sadia Islam alleged that the hospital had released the body after it forced the family of the deceased to sign a deal to pay the remaining Tk 1.3 million by January. Aslam was buried in his family graveyard in Moghbazar. Aslam, 54, was admitted to the hospital on July 3 with lung complications. He passed away around Friday midnight while on life support. The hospital said Aslam’s family owed Tk 3.1m but paid around Tk 1.2m. Gulshan Police Station OC Rafiqul Islam said the hospital and the family had signed a deal to pay the medical bill in 6 installments. Police were present during the signing, he said, according to bdnews24.com.