House to tackle patient rights bill to prevent repeat of Cebu scandal

MANILA, Philippines – A bill seeking to protect the rights of patients will be taken up at the House of Representatives when Congress resumes session on July 28.

The proposed Patient’s Rights Act of Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin aims to prevent a repeat of a recent incident in a hospital in Cebu where a delicate surgical procedure was videotaped and uploaded on the Internet.

Speaker Prospero Nograles said House Bill 3703 of Garin will be deliberated on as soon as the second regular session resumes after President Arroyo delivers her annual State of the Nation Address.

Entitled “An Act Regulating the Education and Licensure of Physicians and the Practice of Medicine in the Philippines,” the bill seeks stringent rules for admission of doctors into the medical profession.

In her privilege speech, Garin said the bill seeking to amend the Medical Act of 1959 would strengthen the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) and minimize unethical practices of some doctors.

“I hope the executive will consider this urgent, taking into account the dangerous effect of patients losing trust in their doctors,” she said.

“The main problem is that PMA does not have powers to discipline its members as membership is not mandatory. Abuses of a few doctors have therefore tainted the whole society and might even affect medical tourism.”

Nograles said Garin’s bill and House Bill 1091 of Deputy Speaker Amelita Villarosa are being consolidated and finalized by a technical working group at the House.

“There is a need for the country to have a comprehensive law that will protect and promote the rights of patients by revitalizing the practice of medical professions in the country,” he said.

“It also helps to discourage doctors or other medical practitioners from working abroad in search of greener pastures.”

Garin said it is necessary to review and reorient the decades-old Medical Act of 1959 to update the country’s policies on the practice of medicine.

“Addressing only the economic woes of medical practitioners will not suffice to address the issue of their exodus,” she said.

“It is also important to create an environment wherein they can cultivate and improve their skills and expertise.”

In recent years, the Philippines witnessed the massive departure of Filipino doctors to take on other professions, such as but not limited to nursing jobs abroad, Garin said.

HB 1091 of Villarosa seeks to prohibit the practice of withholding the discharge of indigent patients who fail to pay hospital or medical bills incurred, particularly during emergencies.

It aims to stop hospitals or medical clinics from requiring deposits or advance payments as a prerequisite for administration of medical treatment.

The bill seeks to amend section 3 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 702, as amended by RA 8344.

Villarosa said under no circumstance shall indigent patients be confined by reason of inability to pay hospital or medical bills.

“There are many ways to settle unpaid bills without requiring continued confinement of any fully recuperated patient who, instead, should be allowed to resume his occupation and thereby earn enough to pay his obligation,” she said.

One way to settle unpaid bills is for the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. to establish some kind of health fund that would extend emergency loans to indigent patients, which the DSWD and the local government units could guaranty.

The Social Security System and the Government Service Insurance System could also extend similar emergency loans if the patient is a member in good standing, Villarosa said.

Nograles vowed to incorporate provisions in the proposed patient’s rights bill, which are acceptable to the Senate, to avoid delay in its passage by both chambers of Congress.