Man in coma accumulates Dh210,000 in bills

A Filipino man in coma is waiting to be repatriated to his home country, after raking up bills worth Dh210,000 in three months. He was admitted in the hospital after suffering brain haemorrhage.

A heavy equipment painter at Arcom, Jose Elmer Leonardo Castro, 46, was rushed to Cedars Jebel Ali International Hospital on May 12 after he suffered an intra-cerebral haemorrhage as he was returning to his accommodation inside the free zone after work, Xpress reported.

At Cedars Castro underwent a life-saving neurosurgical intervention following which he was transferred to another private hospital in Sharjah for decompression craniotomy and evacuation of the haemorrhage and was kept in the ICU on artificial ventilation.

Though the bills of emergency treatment and initial procedure was covered by his insurance firm, bills since then have remained unpaid as the insurer declined to pay.

Following the procedure in the Sharjah Hospital, Castro is back at Cedars and has since shown great progress as he is now reacting to speech and displays minimum movement.

Even as his wife and family back home have expressed their inability to pay the bills, as they have no source of income besides Castro, Philippine Consulate authorities are working with several charitable organisations to cover the bill.

"We have made requests to Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Castro is a member of the organisation) and other charities for financial help to settle his bills," said Amilbahar Amilasan, a Philippine Consulate official in Dubai.

Dr Guenther Kieninger, Head, Department of Surgery, and Medical Director of Cedars, said Castro is now fit to travel but needs a nurse to accompany him during flight. He added that the patient would need continuous medication to stabilise his blood pressure and physiotherapy to strengthen his bones and muscles. "We believe that being with his family will be good for his continuous recovery," said Dr Kieninger. "

"Should the repatriation take place any time, we will not hold the patient for the unpaid bills," he said, adding that the costs incurred so far will be considered the hospital's loss.