There was a piece of disturbing news in the media the other day.
Six ER employees of Imam Khomeini hospital in Tehran have been arrested. The reason for their apprehention is that they dropped “atleast” (I love it how the propaganda system in Iran uses that word) two patients who couldn’t pay their treatment bill in the middle of no where on Tehran – Qom highway. They have allegedly put them on the back a truck and drove them out of town, telling them they are being taken home. Once sufficiently out of town, they kicked them off the vehicle and left them by the side of the road. The accompanying picture suggested that they were kind enough to leave them with some blankets and offcourse they didn’t take away their hospital clothes too.
Refusing treatment for the people who can’t afford it is a routine conduct Iran. Before the hospital crew even start any diagnostic or treatment action, they figure what are the costs and make sure that you have paid for them. Another one of their revenue – generating techniques is that they put you in a point of no return and then tell you that your patient needs additional treatments (that the patient most probably won’t even need) and make you pay more. offcourse if you question them they would rudely tell tell you that if you are not happy, you can take the half open patient somewhere else.They make you pay for everything, the bed sheet that the patients rests upon, to the pair of slippers the patients wear, everything. Nowadays, the medical sector in Iran is probably the most greedy, ruthless, and corrupt in the society as a whole (as if you can even compare these days).
There are two types of insurance in Iran! The first is the state welfare that pays for the basics and there is the private supplementary insurance that pays for more complicated medical procedures. Most of the hspital (state of private) care moderately about the first type and competey ignore the second. They make sure you pay for everything first and then it is your problem to go and figure out your claim from your insurance company.
This is how a medical sector in a country, supposedly based Islamic compassion, treats its sick. It simply does not give a shit.
Although the Khomeini Hopital story has alot of holes in it, it scores a new low for the social standards in modern Iran.
It further reinforces the notion made by many political and social commentators that that we are witnessing the death of Ethics in Iran. I believe this specific incidence is just another nail in that coffin.
