Private clinic sealed for violations in Nangarhar

KABUL (Pajhwok): A private clinic has been closed in eastern Nangarhar province after it gave a patient the results of medical tests of another patient and charged him multiple times higher for the tests and medicines.

Dr. Sibghatullah Safi, the head of the Food, Medicine and Health Services Supervision and Inspection Department of the Nangarhar Public Health Department, told Pajhwok Afghan News that they received a complaint last night that a patient had been charged a lot of money for tests and medicines at a private clinic called Rasooli in Ulfat Mina, Jalalabad city.

After receiving the complaint, he said, the department’s monitoring team visited the clinic and investigated the matter.

“We learned the tests for this patient were for another patient and his name was written on them. The tests valued 500 afghanis, but he was charged 1,900 afghanis. The medicine we checked was worth 600 afghanis, but the patient paid about 8,000 afghanis. In total, 9,990 afghanis were charged from the patient.”

Safi said the clinic was closed due to these violations and the money returned to the patient’s family.

He said that the Public Health Department would take legal action in this regard later.

The medicines and tests were given to the mother of the patient named Rafiullah who had come to the clinic for treatment.

Rafiullah also said his mother was given the results of another patient’s tests and that the medicine given to him for 8,000 afghanis at the clinic was sold at 350 afghanis at another pharmacy.

Pajhwok tried to talk to the clinic’s officials, but did not succeed.

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