A doctor in Assam has raised concerns over what he describes as “predatory pricing” practices in private hospitals, sparking fresh debate over the affordability and transparency of healthcare services in India. According to the doctor, patients are often subjected to inflated medicine prices and unnecessary tests that place a significant financial burden on families during already distressing times.
In a tweet on X, Dr. Priyam Bordoloi revealed that his cousin was charged Rs 64,000 for just three days of treatment for diarrhea. He pointed out that the bill included expensive, non-clinically indicated tests, such as vitamin panels and a CT scan. The doctor criticised corporate hospital chains for acting as a “financial sinkhole” by inflating medicine prices and prescribing redundant tests.
“While certain costs like better nurse-to-patient ratios and better infrastructure are justifiable, the lack of transparency is predatory. I saw firsthand the inflated medicine prices, unnecessary vitamin panels, and a CT abdomen that wasn’t clinically indicated. As a medicine doctor, I caught the overuse of antibiotics and redundant testing, but most families don’t have that luxury. Corporate hospitals are increasingly becoming a financial sinkhole,” the tweet read.
See the tweet here:
Even as a doctor, I feel this deeply. Two years ago, I advised my cousin to choose a private hospital for diarrhea because she’s a germaphobe and I thought she’d be more comfortable there. She was discharged three days later with a ₹64k bill.
While certain costs like better… https://t.co/yvO1WgoUiX
—Dr. Priyam Bordoloi (@DocPriyamMD) March 28, 2026
His comments were in response to a viral post by X user Ankit Pandey, who claimed a friend’s grandmother in an ICU was being billed Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 daily for medicines alone, without transparency or family access to the patient.
Social media users echoed these concerns, with many sharing similar stories of “money-making machine” tactics and a lack of transparency regarding treatment details.
Another doctor said, “MBA-driven medicine is a big problem! Optimizing a hospital isn’t the same as optimizing patient care; once revenue targets enter clinical space, priorities shift quietly, which is happening on a large scale.”
A third user commented, “Let’s acknowledge that doctors and healthcare professionals, like any other sector, operate under targets tied to increments, bonuses, and promotions, yet it is deeply concerning when such metrics are pursued at the expense of patients’ lives, emotions, and vulnerabilities. What makes it worse is the audacity with which this continues, shielded by their position as one of the largest political donors.”
“This is bound to happen with hospitals run on stock market money and target to meet numbers,” a third wrote, while a fourth added, “Private hospital managements come on business channels and shamelessly talk about revenue and profitability per bed in hospitals. The hospitals are bloodsucking dragons of human misery and distress.”
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