Clipping of news on Brazilian Culture, Law and Citizenship
09/09/2016
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
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Criminals call relatives of inpatients and claim the need for surgeries or other procedures that must be paid separately. See what care to take and what to do if you are a victim
Published 09/08/2016
Having a close family member or close friend leaves anyone very vulnerable. And there are criminals who take advantage of this to apply blows. Idec has received reports from consumers about false hospital calls requesting payment for procedures by the patient family.
Security workers call relatives pretending to be employees of the institution and claim the need to perform an emergency procedure, such as surgery, which would have been denied by the health plan - that is when the hospitalization was made through the operator, but may also occur In cases of private hospitalization.
Scammers provide patient information, information about their health status, and sometimes even the name of the doctor accompanying them - which may make the family member believe that the request is true. Only after depositing the money, the victim discovers that he fell in a coup.
Therefore, if you receive any such contact, try to stay calm and do not make any payments before checking the truthfulness of the information.
Call the hospital immediately or, if possible, go to the hospital. Employees will be able to report the patient's actual health condition, whether he or she needs to complete a new procedure and, if so, whether there has been any denial of coverage by the health plan.
I fell in the blow, now what?
If you have been the victim of such a coup, the consumer can seek redress for damages suffered by the hospital and the health plan (if applicable), especially if the offenders have provided personal patient information and hospitalization information - which Hospital and the operator.
There is no way to know who was responsible for the leakage of this data. However, both the hospital and the health plan operator have objective liability in this case - that is, they are responsible regardless of guilt, according to Article 14 of the Consumer Defense Code.
Idec directs the consumer to first look for suppliers (hospital and operator). If the case is not resolved directly with the companies, it is recommended to file a complaint with Procon and / or the consumer.gov.br website of the Ministry of Justice. If necessary, it is also possible to go to court.
The judicial process may be the first alternative in case of urgency for the return of the amounts paid to the coup plotters. For example, if the money spent would be used to continue the patient's treatment and the patient is compromised.
In this case, it is advisable to file an injunction request (provisional decision) for continuity of treatment.
Source: Idec
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This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.