A case of wrong diagnosis? Couple raps doc for death of son

The parents of a seven-year-old boy have filed a criminal complaint against a resident physician of a private hospital for negligence due to a wrong diagnosis that resulted to the death of their child last month.

Jose and Jean Gulfan of barangay Kamputhaw have also sought the assistance of City Hall’s Anti-Dengue Task Force, because they are planning to file more charges against the doctors and the management of the hospital for allegedly refusing to admit their patient because they could not give a down payment.

Councilor Gerardo Carillo, who heads the task force, said the hospital can be held liable for violating the law because it allegedly refused to admit the boy knowing that it was an emergency case.

He said the city would assist the couple in the filing of the case against the doctors and the hospital.

This recent case happened as the city’s Anti-Dengue Task Force reported that as of yesterday, 107 more cases with six fatalities were reported in Cebu City.

Last year, the City Health Office has recorded 2,160 dengue cases with 53 deaths in the city, ranking it number one among cities and municipalities in Region VII with highest number of dengue cases.

Last January 24, the Gulfans filed a criminal complaint against Dr. Sheryl Emverda, a resident doctor of Sacred Heart Hospital for medical malpractice/negligence under the Revised Penal Code at the City Prosecutor’s Office.

The couple were at the office of Carillo yesterday and said that they are also contemplating on filing administrative charges against the hospital and the other doctors for refusing to immediately admit their son due to lack of down payment and giving immediate attention to him despite his serious condition.  

Carillo said requiring down payments for emergency cases like dengue is a violation of the Republic Act 8344, or the “Act Prohibiting the Demand of Deposits or Advanced Payments for Confinement or Treatment of Patients in Hospitals and Medical Clinics in Certain Cases.”

The Freeman tried to get the side of the hospital management but this reporter was told that Dr. Delia Evardo, the hospital’s medical director was having a seminar in Shangri La’s Mactan Island Resort in Lapu-Lapu City.

On the other hand, Dr. Emverda is allegedly off-duty while Dr. Margaret Modequillo, another physician who checked on Stanley, is not at the hospital, because she is just a visiting consultant.

The woman, who answered the phone, after this reporter explained her purpose in calling, however denied the accusations of the Gulfan couple.

She said that while it is true that they require deposits from patients to be admitted, they would admit emergency cases even without down payment. 

In their joint affidavit, the Gulfan couple narrated their son, Stanley Shanz Gulfan, 7, was rushed to the emergency room of the hospital last December 10 due to abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, skin rashes and high fever which has already persisted for 20 hours.

They said that they told Dr. Emverda, their son’s attending physician, his medical history saying they fear that he might be infected by dengue because of the visible rashes on his face.

But Dr. Emverda allegedly assured them that there is nothing to worry since it was only gastritis and the rashes were just a result of his fever.

Emverda also advised the couple to have their son undergo complete blood count, which showed that the boy’s platelet count was 157.

With this, a nurse who gave them the result reportedly advised them to go home and follow the doctor’s prescription because the result of the test is not alarming.

Considering Stanley’s poor condition, the couple said they insisted that their son be admitted at the hospital, but the nurse told them that there was no vacancy and its better that they go home and buy the medicine prescribed by the doctor.

The Gulfans went home and followed the doctor’s prescription and let Stanley drink the medicine, but his condition did not improve.

On December 11, the couple brought the boy again to Sacred Heart Hospital to have him admitted.

At the emergency room, Dr. Modequillo attended to the boy and after she observed that the boy was already very weak and pale, she advised that the boy undergo CBC.

Upon seeing the result of the boy’s CBC, which showed that his platelet count dropped to 48,000, the doctor recommended for his admission at the hospital.

But the couple said that despite the emergency, the medical staff at the emergency room refused to connect an intravenous line on Stanley without them giving the down payment of P2,000 to the billing section.

It was only when Jose Gulfan was able to give P2,000 that the boy was admitted and was given an IV line.

When Stanley was admitted at around 1 p.m., the couple said that the doctors did not recommend for their son to undergo blood transfusion even if they already had standby blood donors.

At midnight, Dr. Modequillo recommended Stanley’s case to another doctor after she observed that the boy’s condition was not improving and advised them to have a blood donor ready.

But the couple said they waited the whole day for Dr. Modequillo or the doctor that was supposed to take over to come back, but it was around 11 p.m. of December 12 that certain Dr. Willy Dublin arrived and checked the boy.

This time, the couple asked the doctor if their son could be admitted at the intensive care unit because of his worsening condition and trouble in breathing.

Dr. Dublin allegedly told them that they have to make another down payment before the boy would be admitted at the ICU.

Jose Gulfan said he was told at the information counter of the hospital that they require P15,000 for the admission at the ICU, but later agreed to lower it to P5,000.

He said that when he left the hospital to look for money, Stanley was already turning blue and has slowly lost his voice.

When he returned to the hospital with the P5,000 he saw the doctors already doing bagging on the boy to support his breathing.

The patient was then transferred to the ICU but at 4:45 a.m. of December 13, Dr. Emverda declared that the boy was already dead.   —  (/NLQ)