3 VSMMC medics still can’t work

The two doctors and a nurse earlier suspended by the Department of Health in the wake of a controversial rectal procedure that placed the Philippine medical profession in a bad light before the world cannot return to work just as yet even if a new entity has assumed jurisdiction of their case.

For while the Office of the Ombudsman may have assumed jurisdiction of the case from the DOH, in effect rendering the DOH suspension order null and void, this does not mean the troubles of doctors Phillips Leo Arias and Joseph Montecillo and nurse Carminia Sapio are over.

The Ombudsman, if so required, can just as well issue its own order suspending the three.

Besides, Deputy Ombudsman Pelagio Apostol said, the anti-graft body cannot order a return to work order in favor of the three medical personnel of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center because it does not have the authority to do so.

For the three to be able to return to work, they need to bring up the matter before the DOH, Apostol said.

Apostol said what the Ombudsman can do is credit the days the respondents spent in suspension by the DOH to whatever action the anti-graft body may eventually take on the matter.

The controversy involved a January 3 rectal procedure on a gay florist who, after a night of kinky sex with a stranger on New Year’s Eve, found a can of perfume stuck inside his rectum.

Apparently, and without the consent of the patient who was then under sedation, somebody took a video footage of the procedure and posted it on YouTube, the video-sharing website on the Internet.

What made the three-minute video even more controversial than the nature of the case itself was that it showed medical personnel making light and fun of the situation.

They were seen laughing, shouting and otherwise mocking the predicament of the patient. One doctor was seen spraying the can of perfume around to show that it still worked after its successful extraction from the rectum.

The behavior of the medical personnel inside the VSMMC operating room sent shock waves through the medical profession and beyond, prompting a number of investigations including a congressional inquiry.

Lawyers of the three suspended medical personnel are now asking for the lifting of the suspensions even if the DOH committee that looked into the case said it was in no position to do that.

They said that if the suspensions are not lifted, they will go to the Civil Service Commission to appeal the matter.

Lawyer Joselito Alo, counsel for nurse Sapio, said that ever since his client’s suspension, she has been deprived of her salary.

But the DOH, despite the case having moved to the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman, continues to affirm the actions of its investigating committees as all official, including the order suspending three of six medical personnel charged administratively in connection with the controversy.

“ whatever actions we did prior to the order from Health Undersecretary Alex Padilla and Assistant Ombudsman Virginia Palanca Santiago regarding who has jurisdiction of the case, they will remain legal and valid, ” said DOH hearing committee chairman Dr. Angelita Salarda.

Salarda said there is no termination and cancellation of the case. “ The decisions made beforehand are genuine and that the DOH will only endorse the case to the Office of the Ombudsman. “ ( With Annie Hazel D. Basada, UP Tacloban CommArts Intern/JST )