A family in Lungujja is in anguish after Mengo hospital allegedly refused to release the body of their son, Jessey Kiberu, over unpaid medical bills amounting to Shs 64 million.
According to Brian Kalenge, the family’s lawyer, Kiberu had been battling mental illness before mysteriously disappearing from home three weeks ago. He was later found and admitted to Mengo hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU), where he died days later.
Kalenge told URN that the family was shocked to learn that Kiberu had suffered multiple organ failure, allegedly as a result of medication administered during his disappearance.
The hospital reportedly attributed the rising medical bill to the high cost of detoxification and intensive care procedures. Initially, the hospital had asked for Shs 30 million, but the bill later escalated to Shs 64 million. The family managed to raise Shs 25 million through a fundraising drive and had hoped this would be sufficient to secure the release of the body for burial.
However, during a meeting held on Wednesday morning, hospital administrators reportedly declined to release the body until the full amount is cleared. Kalenge said the hospital’s position has left the family distressed and unable to bury their loved one.
When contacted for comment, Mengo hospital managing director Dr Simon Peter Nsingo said he was in meetings and would respond at a later time. Legal experts say the hospital’s conduct could amount to a human rights violation.
Ruth Ajalo, a lawyer at the Center for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD), said detaining bodies over unpaid bills is illegal and morally indefensible. She cited a 2023 High court ruling in which CEHURD successfully challenged the detention of a 14-year-old boy at Jaro hospital over a Shs 4 million bill.
In that landmark judgment, the court declared that hospitals regardless of ownership have no right to detain patients or deceased persons due to unsettled medical costs.
“This is a gross violation of human dignity,” Ajalo said.
She said if the hospital believes the family owes them money, the appropriate course of action is to pursue the claim in court and not to hold a body hostage.
The court ruling followed public outcry during the COVID-19 pandemic, when several private hospitals were accused of detaining bodies of deceased patients over unpaid bills.
It seems as African doctors are concerned especially for the country of Uganda they do not have to take the Hippocratic oath like their counter part traditional and well cultured African doctors. All they have to do is ask patients money up front. Order the long lined patients to lay on the medical beds and pray to God the creator throughout the rest of the mystical treatments these doctors provide. When you die, that is too bad. The relatives need to pay again to be allowed to take your dead body home for burial! Actually that is why the British colonialists up to now are struggling in their own country to provide an expensive free National Health Medical Service!
Gone are the days when medical care was as affordable as it was compassionate. Back then, the Hippocratic Oath was well and truly practiced. These days it’s money that counts, and even then, there are no guarantees that one will get what one has paid for. Every facet of Uganda is contaminated by rot and decay. Pathetic.
The canning delays in the hospital by medics over a matter that could be solved by prescription of some takehome medicine for the patient for summarize the medication home so that they can milk u to the bone marrow.
I don’t like the too much desire for money in the private guys.
We need difficult and honest discussions regarding medical costs especially where the patient dies. The family’s desire is to have their kin alive and will do everything possible to achieve that. However, if that fails, why should you charge the family for entire professional costs. Can we consider that since the patience has died; let’s bill the consumables, 50% of the bed charges and 50% of the professional costs? Can the hospitals share the grief and pain of not restoring the health of the person so forego some of their professional costs?
Paul, in Uganda, greed and avarice have trumped compassion in our hearts. Even with these church-affiliated medical establishments, can you believe it? Haven’t you read or heard of incidents, where accident victims alive or dead, are robbed of valuables at the scene of the accident? Noble as your suggestion is, don’t expect it to be given consideration at all
I was very sick in Kampala Independent Hospital and had to go to my bank with a nurse to withdraw money before I could be operated on. Discharge was a battle. I could not be given a driver to go to the bank and I was told I was not going to be discharged. The balance was very little and they did not accept I bring it the following day. I had to borrow from relatives. In this country, if you do not have, you die Infront of the doctors and nurses cos they will not touch you until they see cash.
Suppose the family fails to raise the money, what are they going to do with the body? Really keeping a dead body for money and no shame. The person is no longer keep the 25M which is already a lot and let the grieved family bury their son. Do not let money fizzle your brains have hearts instead of stones
Hey Marc, thank God that you healed and got discharged. There are some hospitals that deliberately prolong a patient’s stay in hospital, to milk as much money as they can from the patient. Either by prescribing unnecessary tests or expensive medications, or claiming that the patient continuous in-house monitoring or recuperation. My sister, a medical doctor, worked in a prominent private hospital, and she revealed to me how billing patients was prioritized and encouraged, over providing medical care. She couldn’t cope and left
I hope the Family fails to pay and lets Mengo keep the body. So much for Christian founded Hospitals!
How about the Family suing for the killing of their relative? Instead of paying them for it!
64m should be the cost of restoring his life as in raising him from the dead!
Marc Mae I send you my sympathy. This East African Pan-African country has enough money to organise free medical care and free nursery and primary school education second and third class for the poor of this country. If a sitting government of Uganda has not enough money for such very important average social services it can appeal to the international financial institutions to provide additional financial help. Such rich man’s medical treatment the American capitalists are working hard to introduce in the African culture and country must stop. The sky is the limit for these rich American investors to invest in very expensive hospitals all over the world. One understands there is a whole expensive hospital third floor in state house for the rich politicians of this country to obtain first class medical treatment. Lots of money continue to be paid at Lubowa, to restart building another new expensive first class hospital for the elite of this country!
Guys thanks. Overbilling including drugs not administered. Can you believe a room at a hospital costing 1.5 million per day, a leg fracture 14 million for a a 4 day admittance in a hospital. I heard about that hospital in State house where unspecified funds go for the few selected ones. Money spent on treatments abroad alone can build 4 Lubowas or even more. Why does one pay for the doctors gown which is cleaned after the operation?
By the way this room does not include ant medication it is only for the room and nothing else
Everyday I get more and more suspicious about these professionals, they used to be the best in class…
If these guys , doctors, are worth their titles of doctors can’t they sit down and compromise with the family of the deceased “…it is unfortunate that you have lost your loved one,….but some of his organs are donatable… since…costs this much…, and he no longer needs them and it will save another’s life…and it has been proved that we did not induce death to harvest his organs…LET US SOLVE THIS, with your consent of course and under the law.”
I get more and more suspicious, have they carried out an independent postmortem ?
If they want money that bad, does he still have his giblets?
The canning delays in the hospital by medics over a matter that could be solved by prescription of some takehome medicine for the patient for summarize the medication home so that they can milk u to the bone marrow. I don’t like the too much desire for money in the private guys.