Court clears doctor over death of child

CEBU - For lack of evidence, the provincial prosecutor’s office dismissed a criminal complaint against a doctor in Ronda town for alleged misdiagnosis, which resulted to the death of a 10-year-old boy last year.

The mother of the child, Mary Grace Maribao, had sued Dr. Fe Rasco Villegas for reckless imprudence resulting to homicide for “insisting” that her son had amoebiasis when the child actually had dengue.

It was at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center that the child died of “dengue shock syndrome and acute infectious diarrhea,” three days after Villegas made the findings of amoebiasis.

Maribao alleged that they were forced to bring her son to Cebu City when the district hospital in Barili town found out the child’s platelet count was way below the normal level.

But 2nd Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Joseph Berciles said the case record “is bereft of any medical finding or clinical record as to the condition of the victim when brought to VSMMC with due consideration on treatment Villegas has rendered.

“While it may be true that the minor victim was admittedly confined at the clinic of the respondent, the patient was brought to VSMMC where he died of dengue shock syndrome. The case record is bereft of any medical finding or clinical record as to the physical state or condition of the victim when brought to VSMMC with due consideration on the alleged treatment or care done upon him by the respondent vis a viz the better medical equipment of Vicente Sotto Hospital,” Berciles said.

Berciles said scientific evidence is necessary to support the complaint because the death certificate alone reportedly does not point to Villegas’ alleged negligence or inexcusable lack of precaution in handling the patient.

He said that even if there were witnesses that would point to Villegas as having committed negligence or lack of precaution in the exercise of profession, the cause of death was determinable “in the light of medical or scientific knowledge, thus expert witness or scientific evidence is usually necessary to support the complaint and not merely on layman’s speculation or conjecture.”

Maribao said her son started getting fever on September 22, which prompted her to bring him to Villegas who admitted the child at her clinic for overnight observation.

The next day, Villegas reportedly diagnosed the child with amoebiasis but Maribao said she already noticed rashes on her son and told Villegas the child might have dengue.

Villegas allegedly just told her the rashes were insect bites and even allegedly refused to have the child undergo a complete blood count. —Jasmin R. Uy/JMO