PCEA Hospital in Kikuyu is on the spot for retaining the body of Moses Githinji who died in January despite the family paying part of the bill owed to the hospital.
The hospital failed to release the body even after the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist board (KMPDU) wrote a letter to the hospital to release the body for burial.
The KMPDU said that the hospital was in breach of the professional code of conduct which states that doctors are not allowed to hold bodies for nonpayment of bills.
There have been several court rulings barring hospitals from detaining bodies for accrued bills. The KMPDU advises that hospitals should instead seek legal means to clear arrears owed to them
Article 43 of the Constitution, every Kenyan has a right to the highest attainable standard of health and any detention of patients or bodies is a breach of the law.
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Both public and private hospitals have been said to detain bodies and patients in hospitals to recover bills. In Kenyatta hospital, mothers were detained in hospital as they could not pay the maternity bills.
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