Stiff Penalty vs Medical Malpractices Sought

To receive automatic updates of Nursing News, Nursing Care Plans, Case Studies and the November 2008 Nursing Board Exam Result: click Subscribe to NursingCrib.com by Email or via RSS. If you have other topics to discuss, make a post on our Nursing Crib Forum. Thanks for visiting and enjoy your stay!

December 28, 2004
By BEN R. ROSARIO

QUEZON CITY — Determined to leave no room for negligence in medical practice, senior administration congressmen have urged Speaker Jose de Venecia to place on priority bills seeking to establish a Medical and Health Care Liability law that would impose stiff penalty on medical malpractice and illegal medical practice.

The appeal was aired by Reps. Rozzano Rufino B. Biazon (LP, Muntinlupa City); Danton Bueser (LP, Laguna) and Rodriguez Dadivas (Lakas, Capiz) in the wake of reports that medical malpractice has become rampant in many private and government hospitals in the country.

Only last Thursday, a young mother, identified as Victoria De Raco Duque, died after being comatose 14 days when a wrong blood type was transferred to her at the East Avenue Medical Center. She was admitted in the hospital last Dec. 17 to deliver a baby.

Bueser is studying the possibility of calling for a House investigation into the incident. He said bills protecting patients against illegal and negligent practice of medicine should be placed high in the list of priority measures to be acted upon by Congress.

Biazon and Dadivas are authors of House Bill No. 226 and 261, respectively, which pushes stiff penalties against medical malpractice and establishing rights and obligations of patients.

Cebu Rep. Antonio Yapha, chairman of the House Committee on Health, said he supports the passage of the two measures. He pointed out that a medical malpractice bill had already been approved by his committee during the 12th Congress but was never taken up on plenary due to time constraints.

Yapha, a doctor of medicine, said he has sent HB 226 and 261 to a subcommittee in his panel for further study.

However, committee vice chairman Rep. Jesus Reynaldo Aquino (Lakas, Pampanga) warned that approval of the so-called medical malpractice law may not be advisable at this time when the country is suffering from economic hardship.

"If such bill is approved, many doctors may be forced to take out professional insurance and pass on the cost to their patients. Even volunteer doctors might think twice giving free service to the poor,’’ Aquino, a surgeon turned lawmaker said.

The Pampanga lawmaker pointed out that there are enough laws that may protect patients against incompetent and negligent practice of medicine.

He added that the Philippine Medical Association and the Professional Regulations Commission are likewise duty-bound to weed out the medical profession of undesirables.

Reacting to Duque’s case, Aquino said that it was possible that the fatal error of transfusing the wrong type of blood to the victim may have been committed by the medical technologist or nurse.

Other Nursing Articles you may want to look at:

• Admin charges recommended vs 3 doctors, nurse CEBU CITY, Philippines–A committee tasked to investigate the posting on YouTube of an unauthorized video of rectal surgery performed on a patient at the government-run Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City has recommended the filing of administrative charges against three doctors and one nurse in a decision immediately protested by the victim as
• Doctors Eye Apologies for Medical Mistakes Mon Nov 8, 7:12 AM ET By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer CHICAGO - It’s a basic lesson children learn even before their ABCs — say you’re sorry when you hurt someone. But it’s now being taught in the grown-up world of medicine as a surprisingly powerful way to soothe patients. Some tort reform advocates say an apology
• 3 Docs of St. Luke’s Face Malpractice Complaints By Ronnie E. Calumpita, Correspondent   THREE doctors are facing charges of criminal negligence and medical malpractice before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office for an allegedly failed retina surgery they performed on a executive of the Viva Entertainment Co., at the St. Luke’s Medical Center. Rolando Ferrer, a brand manager of the entertainment firm and barangay councilman of
• Doctor Guilty of Medical Negligence By Ran Reznick Last Update: 15/11/2004 A Health Ministry disciplinary committee has found a local doctor who prescribed steroids for "Mr. World" guilty of serious medical negligence. This is the first time that an Israeli doctor has been charged with medical negligence for prescribing bodybuilding drugs, and the first time the Health Ministry has officially declared that high
• Court orders two Cebu doctors to pay P1.3 M for death of child By MARS W. MOSQUEDA JR. November 24, 2004 CEBU CITY — After 12 years of fighting in court, the family of an eight-year-old boy here finally got the justice they wanted when the court found two doctors guilty of gross negligence that allegedly resulted in the death of the child. The Regional Trial Court (RTC) here convicted Dr.