Leyte Rep. Ted Failon made the appeal after learning of the case of a colleague, Henry Lanot of Pasig City, who he said had been a victim of "an obviously irresponsible physician."
"I appeal to the good-hearted and upright in the medical profession: Let us join hands to save the highly regarded profession from scalawag doctors who take human life so lightly," he said.
He said if physicians don’t rid their ranks of rogues, their profession could go the way of the judicial system and law enforcers "whose credibility is now under a cloud because of a few rotten apples."
Failon, a former broadcaster, acknowledged that doctors are human beings and therefore commit mistakes.
"But such errors should be minimized and should be punished severely if they cause disability or cost a human life," he said.
"If it could happen to a member of Congress, what more to the poor and the voiceless?" he asked, referring to Lanot’s case.
Lanot had his gallbladder removed through laser surgery at a big Makati hospital. But the procedure reportedly damaged some of his intestines, necessitating another operation.
Failon said the "medical error" caused his colleague to become a "50-50 case."
He said Lanot had to stay in the hospital for more than a month for his condition to be stabilized and for him to recover.
The Leyte congressman and other colleagues are pushing for the enactment of the proposed Medical Malpractice Act, which is authored principally by Rep. Oscar Rodriguez (Lakas, Pampanga).
Rodriguez’s son Omar was himself a victim of a doctor’s negligence. He was, like Lanot, in the throes of death.
Failon said a pregnant woman, who was his constituent in Tacloban City, died recently with her baby after a simple operation for a cyst at the Philippine General Hospital.
She and her baby were victims of a "medical quack," he said.
He said Rodriguez’s bill was filed during the 9th, 10th and 11th Congress but medical practitioners and pharmaceutical companies had successfully blocked its passage.
"With the rising cases of medical malpractice and with the support of good doctors, it’s now time for us to enact this measure," he added. – Jess Diaz