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CEBU CITY, Philippines - A spokesman of the government-run Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) said the hospital was willing to apologize to the male florist who became the brunt of jokes when a video of his emergency surgery was posted on the popular video-sharing website YouTube.
But for Danilo (not his real name), an apology would not be enough.
He said he would pursue filing criminal and administrative charges against the medical staff and officials of the hospital for violating the Patient’s Bill of Rights.
He said he wanted to teach them a lesson not to humiliate patients the way he was treated.
Barangay (village) Captain Dave Tumulak of Basak Pardo said the patient hired the services of lawyer Guiller Ceniza to help prepare the charges.
Doctor Emmanuel Gines, VSMMC committee chairman on media, said the hospital would face whatever charges would be filed against the hospital.
He said the hospital was willing to apologize to the patient if it’s proven that the hospital was liable.
“We are willing to apologize, why not?” he said.
Results of an internal inquiry by the hospital have not yet been released.
He assured they would come out with the results and name the medical staff involved in the operation.
Danilo, 39, a resident of Barangay Basak Pardo, underwent an emergency medical procedure on January 3 to remove a metal can of Black Suede body spray stuck in his rectum.
A video of the operation was taken without his knowledge and posted on YouTube.
More than one version of the video was taken, apparently by cellphone cameras, and quickly circulated among mobile users.
Danilo said he was humiliated to see in the video how the medical staff and nursing students laughed, jeered and conducted themselves during his surgery.
He said the can was inserted in his rectum by a man after he fell asleep following a night of sex on New Year's Eve.
The video showed more than 10 people in an operating room, where a team extracted a Black Suede spray can from a patient's rectum.
Some were heard laughing and jeering as someone announced that the “baby” was pulled out. The video has since been pulled out of YouTube, but continues to circulate among mobile phone users.
The video of the operation ran for about two minutes and 28 seconds.
VSMMC said it has formed a committee to investigate six doctors and several nurses and staff members involved in the surgery.
Gines, however, refused to identify the five members of the investigation team, which is composed of doctors and administrative officers.
Neither would he identify the medical staff involved in the unusual operation.
He said results would come out late this week or early next week and the team's recommendations would be subject to the approval of VSMMC medical director Gerardo Aquino.
Gines said the hospital also forwarded the case to the Cebu Medical Society.
The medical staff members involved in the incident are still reporting for duty, according to Gines.
He said the hospital management would have to “enforce and strengthen the policies” especially on bringing cellular phones inside the hospital premises.
Asked why the medical staff was allowed to videotape a patient, he replied: “Probably sa excitement sa uban nga participants. Gipasa sa gawas ang video, ang napasahan mao na ang nag-upload sa Internet (Probably, the participants were excited. The video was forwarded to someone outside who, in turn, uploaded it in the Internet),” he said.
Both the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) and the Department of Health (DOH) will not intervene in the case for now.
Angelita Salarda, DOH director for Central Visayas, said they would wait for the results of the investigation by the VSMMC committee.
If they are not satisfied with the report, the DOH will step in and conduct its own probe.
The PRC would wait for the victim to file a complaint before acting on the matter, said the regional director Dan Malayam
“We are like the court. We will wait for the complaint. We have no jurisdiction.,” he told Cebu Daily News.
He said that once a complaint has been filed, they will evaluate it and wait for the board's decision either to reprimand, suspend or revoke a license.
Barangay Captain Tumulak, who was assisting the patient, said the patient would file criminal and administrative charges for violation of several provisions of the Patients Bill of Rights.
But they haven’t been able to identify yet the parties who took the video since the hospital management refused to give names.
He said they had the surname of the surgeon but the hospital officials refused to give his full name.
Tumulak urged the VSMMC management to open their records.
He said that after talking to some reporters on Monday, Danilo decided not to grant more interviews upon the advice of his lawyer.
The Internet video scandal has so traumatized Danilo, he rarely goes out of the house. While his face was not seen in the video, his neighbors knew it was him.
Danilo earlier lamented that he still owed his sister money after paying P10,000 for the operation.
Salarda of the DOH said the attention of Dr. Aquino was called after a health department official saw the video.
Based on the video, she said the operating room was crowded instead of limiting it to four or five medical staff.
Salarda said there was nothing wrong in videotaping the procedure as long as it would be treated with utmost confidentiality.
Provincial Board Member Agnes Magpale said she feared the video controversy and the conduct of the medical personnel involved would affect medical tourism in Cebu.
She said medical schools should emphasize to their student to adhere to ethical standards during the operation. /with report from Correspondents Carine Asutilla and Hayde Quiñanola
