Hospitals across the country have been reminded that they are not permitted to detain bodies of deceased patients due to unpaid medical bills, according to a new directive from the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC).
In a statement released on September 16 and shared by the Commission on Administrative Justice (Office of the Ombudsman), the council emphasized that holding bodies over pending hospital charges is unlawful.
Medical institutions have instead been advised to pursue other legal avenues to recover debts owed by families without interfering with the burial process.
“The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) has ordered a city hospital to release the body of a deceased and thereafter use alternative means to recover the outstanding medical bill from the family,” the statement read in part.
This order followed a formal complaint by a Nairobi man who reported that a hospital in the city had declined to release his wife’s body following her death on August 7, 2025.
The man stated that the facility was demanding settlement of a Sh1.29 million bill, which the family could not raise, effectively delaying burial arrangements.
Responding to the complaint, KMPDC instructed the hospital to release the body immediately and condemned the act as a violation of both ethical and legal standards.
The council reaffirmed that no hospital is allowed to withhold a body under any circumstances linked to unpaid bills.
In its statement, the council clarified that such actions go against constitutional provisions, particularly those protecting human dignity. “Article 28 of our Constitution guarantees every person’s inherent dignity, and this right extends posthumously,” the Commission on Administrative Justice noted.
Further, the statement referenced a prior court decision, which ruled that a human body cannot be treated as a financial asset. It added that remains cannot be auctioned, held as collateral, or used for income generation within mortuary services.
As a result of the intervention, the affected family was permitted to take the body of their loved one and proceed with funeral plans. The commission has urged hospitals to respect the law and handle such matters with compassion and within legal boundaries.
