Update: Rectal Surgery Scandal

Admin, criminal raps poised vs Cebu hospital personnel
By Edu Punay
Philippine Star
Wednesday, May 7, 2008

The Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas has recommended the filing of criminal and administrative charges against seven doctors, four nurses, two clinical instructors, and a nursing aide who were implicated in the operating room scandal at the government-run Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City.

The anti-graft investigators said they found ample grounds to file charges of violation of Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) and grave misconduct against the VSMMC medical personnel who were caught on video laughing while conducting surgery on a 39-year-old gay florist to extract a perfume canister from his rectum last Jan. 3. The video recording was made without the consent of the patient.

The footage, which was uploaded on YouTube, a video-sharing Internet site, showed the medical personnel in the operating room making jokes and jeering as they performed the procedure.
The Ombudsman identified the accused as Doctors Phillip Leo Arias, Marlowe Parreno, Angelo Linawagan, Alfred Joseph De Leon, Joanne Mae Merilles, Serapio Salazar and Max Joseph Montecillo, registered nurses Isabelita Remulta, Carmenia Sapio, Consuelo Tecling and Ida Sumayang, clinical instructors Ramon Pandaan and a certain A. Opado from Southwestern University, and nursing aide Rosemarie Villareal.

In its recommendation, the Ombudsman-Visayas ruled that the medical staff committed misconduct for unlawful behavior and gross negligence as public officers.
Deputy Ombudsman Pelagio Apostol, head of the anti-graft office in the Visayas, said their fact-finding panel conducted a two-week investigation and assessment of the complaint filed by the patient, whose identity has been withheld, last April 21.

In his complaint, the patient said he suffered humiliation after the video of his operation was posted on YouTube.

In his nine-page affidavit, the complainant though did not identify the doctors, nurses and interns involved, but only gave reference to a certain Dr. Arias.
Clinical forms and a discharge sheet from the hospital were attached to the complaint prepared by his lawyer Guiller Ceniza.

The patient accused the VSMMC personnel who attended his surgery of violating his rights to privacy and confidentiality and reflecting a poor sense of professionalism.
He cited provisions of RA 4224 (Code of Ethics of the Medical Profession in the Philippines), the Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses, the Hippocratic Oath and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials.

“I strongly believe the doctors and nurses of the Vicente (Sotto) Memorial Medical Center and the hospital itself violated my right to privacy and confidentiality. Without my consent, they took videos of the operation showing my private parts and my unusual and embarrassing condition,” he said.

“Instead of observing professional courtesy and giving sympathy to a victim of sexual abuse, the doctors, the nurses and the hospital entertained themselves at my expense, by making fun at my condition; they jeered, laughed, shouted, uttered mischievous statements and cheered on many occasions during the operation; evidently, they were trying to mock and ridicule me,” he added.

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Good to know! At least, medical practitioners now are more cautious on handling patients. Lessons learned from the incident happened.

Hope there will be no medical scandals that will happen again. Be professional and review the Code of Ethics.