Indian struggles for treatment in UAE as medical bills mount

The family of a 27-year-old Indian man, who has been in a semi-comatose condition at a UAE hospital for nearly six months following a brain haemorrhage, is struggling to sustain his treatment as they have no money to pay his medical bills that have gone upto USD 87,607.20.
As the youngest in the family and the only one with a job, Shariq Alvi was under pressure to provide a living for his family.
On March 12, Shariq was found in an unconscious condition in the bathroom of his house.
"He was brought in a semi-comatose condition with very high blood pressure. We did a CT scan and realised that he has a blood vessel which ruptured in the brain, (his state) ... was very critical," said Dr Lalu Chacko, medical director of LLH Hospital here.

According to Chacko, Shariq was discharged four months ago. But because the family has nowhere to put him and no money to pay for his medical needs, they opted to stay in the hospital, Khaleej Times reported.
As of May 21, his hospital bill amounted to 321,790 dirhams (USD 87607.20).

A letter from the hospital dated June 1, said that his insurance coverage is "depleted and there is an amount outstanding and his relatives are unable to provide for settlement of hospital dues".
It added that the estimated treatment on daily basis from May 22 is 2,500 dirhams (USD 23851.03), the report said.

"The hospital management is not asking us to pay that amount (referring to the May bill), but to take the patient home," said Abid Ali, Shariq's brother-in-law.
The estimated home care treatment for two months is far too expensive for the family to afford.
In the past months, Ali has been going to around asking help from the Red Crescent and other foundations, putting together the medical papers they require, but he has yet to hear the good news.
Although the prognosis is dim for Shariq, the family is not giving up.
"We just want people to come forward and help him financially so we can take him to other hospitals like the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI) in Singapore ... Maybe somewhere where we can get benefit from surgery," Ali said.