Ombudsman: Cebu surgery scandal inflicts ‘undue injury’

CEBU CITY, Philippines - The office of the Ombudsman wants 14 people placed under formal criminal investigation for the controversial operation at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC). Among other findings, the anti-graft office will investigate the 14 for causing undue injury, which is punishable by Sec. 3(e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Twelve of the 14 individuals are directly connected with the hospital and are also being cited for administrative investigation for grave misconduct. They will be investigated for possible misconduct, which is penalized by Republic Act 6713, the code of conduct for public officials and employees. The remaining two others are clinical instructors with the University of the Southern Philippines (USP) and are excluded in the administrative probe because they aren’t government officials. VSMMC, according to its media liaison committee, will discuss the results of the Ombudsman investigation as soon as they receive a copy of the findings. The respondents are identified in the eight-page Final Evaluation Report (FER) that Associate Graft Investigator Elmer Gutierrez prepared. The report was approved by Assistant Ombudsman Virginia Palanca-Santiago yesterday. While indicting more people than what the VSMMC investigating panel originally recommended, the FER is silent on the issues of whether the victim was raped. It is also silent on who uploaded the video to YouTube. The FER also does not treat the complainant’s subsequent claim for P6 million in damages. Pursue case With the findings, the patient said he will pursue the case against the medical team, said Basak-Pardo Barangay Captain Dave Tumulak. Tumulak, who is helping the patient, said the patient is happy with the result of the ombudsman investigation. “I was right. The results showed they are 70 percent in favor of the patient," Tumulak said. “The doctors and nurses above-mentioned failed to control the entry of people inside the OR (Operating Room)," read the FER. It cited the doctors and nurses for failing to stop the students and others in using cameras and cell phones inside a place where sanitation should be strictly observed. “They also failed to stop the laughing and cracking of jokes which are insulting in nature. Such conduct of the VSMMC doctors and nurses in the middle of the operation, too much jokes, laughter, use of videos, cameras and mobile phones, and unruly OR behavior could not just be ignored and let go as these caused embarrassment," the report added. Unbecoming “Such acts really are unbecoming of public officials who belong to the medical profession, whose prime concern should have been the best interest of their patients. Their failure to observe this is discreditable and inexcusable," it said. Still, the only palpable violation committed, based on the FER, is causing undue injury, punishable by Sec. 3(e) of Republic Act 3019, as well as misconduct, penalized by Republic Act 6713. There was also mention of negligence but this was not included in the dispositive portion of the report. Impleaded for criminal investigation are Drs. Philipps Leo Arias, the surgeon in charge, Marlowe Parreno, the consultant of the Department of Surgery, Angelo Linawagan, the assistant surgeon, and Joseph Alfred de Leon, the one assigned in documenting the procedure. Also included are Drs. Joanne Mae Merilles, the resident anesthesiologist, Serapio Salazar, the consultant of the Department of Anesthesiology, and Max Joseph Montecillo of the Department of Surgery. The nurses, in turn, are Isabelita Remulta, the operating room nurse supervisor, Circulating Nurse Carmenia Sapio, OR Nurse Supervisor Consuelo Tecling, the nurse on call, Ida Sumayang, and Nursing Attendant Rosemarie Villareal. The clinical instructors, meanwhile, are a certain A. Oplado and Ramon Penley “Monching" Pandaan. Following the procedure at the anti-graft office, the FER becomes the formal letter-complaint upon which the impleaded officials will be investigated. The FER will be docketed as a formal complaint and then assigned to a graft investigator for preliminary investigation and administrative adjudication. If probable cause is found, a case will be filed before the Regional Trial Court (RTC). If not, the complaint is dismissed. Sanctions If the administrative proceedings find sufficient evidence, administrative sanctions - including reprimands and suspensions – will be imposed. The anti-graft office took into consideration the answers that the implicated hospital officials gave to the panel the VSMMC created when it initially investigated the incident. Among the doctors, Arias and Linawaga admitted that there were too many people in the OR when the extraction took place but maintained that they had no control over the matter as they were so focused on the procedure. Montecillo, for his part, admitted he was one of those in the OR at that time and said “(he) could not help but react to the way my colleagues handled the operation." “Several times I smiled and laughed (at their side comments and jokes) but I never said a word or did anything than to continue my observation and to document what transpired." It was Dr. de Leon who was authorized to take videos of the procedure. Among the nurses, Villareal and Sapio said they simply couldn’t control the crowd. - Sun.Star Cebu