Cutthroat doctor's fee

One day my expatriate colleague phoned me from his apartment and said he could not come to the office because he was suffering from a high fever and had detected red spots all over his body. My heart almost missed a beat as I connected the symptoms with the much feared dengue fever, which could be fatal if not immediately treated by a qualified physician. I add the word "qualified" because I know of two instances whereby the patients died because of wrong diagnosis by their doctors.

My colleague went to see a doctor, who diagnosed the affliction as chicken pox. A week's rest was the cure. What surprised me was the doctor's fee he had to pay. For the first visit he paid Rp 400,000 and for the second visit Rp 200,000.

Considering the usual specialist's fee of Rp.30,000, and even if the price of medicine is added, I think that in this case the patient was grossly overcharged. In my opinion, this is inappropriate. Just because the patient is a foreigner is no reason to overcharge him.

Imagine the reverse. Suppose an Indonesian were ill in a foreign country, and was charged 10 times the usual doctor's fee, how would he feel and react?

A. DJUANA

Jakarta