Indian man stranded in UAE hospital over unpaid bills

An Indian national has been stuck for the past four months in a Dubai hospital owing to non-payment of his medical expenses up to 100,000 dirhams (about $27,000). Maxwell Donald Pereira, 56, who suffered partial paralysis after a life threatening stroke in January, is stuck in hospital as he could not afford to pay his bills, Gulf News reported Wednesday.

He has been treated in Rashid Hospital in the city since he suffered stroke. He is now said to be stable.The newspaper citing hospital authorities said he cannot walk and is dependent on others.

Doctors said he is fit to travel to India accompanied by a nurse. Nurses at the hospital said the bone flap, which has been refrigerated, can be replaced in another operation that can be carried out once he reaches his home in Mumbai, the report said. 

The total expenses of transporting him under proper medical precautions is around 35,000 dirhams.But no one has come forward to assist him as he has been separated from his family, comprising of his wife and a son.

He had a health card issued but it did not cover the expenses.His sponsor and club owner Roy Pereira could not be reached, the report said. The man was employed as a supervisor at the Namaste and Vegas clubs in the Holiday Inn in Bur Dubai district in Dubai.

Pereira has been living in Dubai for the past 36 years.Earlier, Holiday Inn agreed to provide for travelling expenses on compassionate grounds, adding that Pereira's sponsor Roy Pereira has been entitled to pay his medical bills.

The club has been closed and reportedly reeling under 1 million dirhams debt. Pereira's elderly mother has urged his friends for assistance.