Hospitals have no legal right to hold on to the bodies of patients whose bills remain unpaid, the High Court has ruled in a landmark decision that could reshape a practice many families have silently endured for years.
Justice Nixo Sifuna, in a ruling delivered on September 23, declared that detaining bodies over unsettled medical costs is unlawful, traumatizes grieving families, and dishonors the dead.
“There is no law in Kenya granting hospitals a lien over patients or their remains,” he stated, stressing that the custom, though widespread, has no foundation in legislation and is “oppressive and against justice and morality.”
The judge further noted that courts have consistently ruled a dead body is not property, meaning it cannot be used as leverage for debt collection. Instead, he said, burial arrangements should follow the Public Health Act, which provides clear protocols on handling the deceased.
The case before him involved the family of Caroline Nthangu Tito, who passed away at Mater Hospital after months of treatment. The hospital demanded over Sh3.3 million in unpaid bills and continued to detain her body, charging Sh2,000 daily in mortuary fees.
Her sons, both students with no steady income, argued that the ongoing detention not only prolonged their grief but also inflated the debt beyond what they could ever settle.
Siding with them, Justice Sifuna ordered the hospital to immediately release the body upon payment of mortuary charges alone, directing that the outstanding medical bill be pursued separately as a civil debt.
