Court allows Napoles' docs to operate on her

MANILA, Philippines - The Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 on Wednesday  gave the green light on the personal physicians of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles to take part on her treatment at the Ospital ng Makati (Osmak).

In a two- page order, Judge Elmo Alameda said the permission was given after the administration of Osmak has manifested its willingness and readiness to grant the request of Napoles that she be allowed to avail of the services of her own doctors under the Philippine Medical Association Declaration on the Rights and Obligations of the Patient.

"To put the matter in its proper perspective, when the court issued the order dated March 28, 2014 allowing accused Napoles to undergo surgical operation and confinement at the Ospital ng Makati, the court made the assumption that the medical personnel assigned at its Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology would attend to her medical needs and perform the surgical operation. In order to safeguard the alleged right of the accused to avail the services of physicians of her choice, the court likewise made an assumption that the accused would choose from the lists of affiliated doctors assigned at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Ospital ng Makati," the order said.

"Be that as it may, since the City Government of Makati which owns and operates the Ospital ng Makati has manifested its willingness and readiness to grant the request of the accused and bolstered by the testimony of Dr. Perry Ishmael G. Peralta, MD, Medical Director of Ospital ng Makati that granting the request would not violate any existing rules and regulations of the hospital, then, the court will not hesitate to give its imprimatur to this medical undertsking for humanitarian considerations," the order added.

Dr. Peralta earlier testified in court that while Osmak is willing to have Napoles' physicians of choice take part in her treatment, the non-affiliated doctors should foloow the standard care of a patient, follow the rules, regulations and policies of the Ospital ng Makati, otherwise, the privilige accorded to them will be revoked; and the Ospital ng Makati will designate a representative in the medical team of the accused. The  representative will participate in the management of the patient and will have access on her medical records.

Given permission by the court to participate in Napoles' treatment at the Osmak are her personal physicians Dr. Elsie Badillo-Pascua, Dr. Effen Domingo, Dr. Leo Alquilizan, Dr. Michael Lim-Villa, Dr. Nick Cruz, and an unnamed anesthesiologist.

The court also reminded in its order that Napoles' period of confinement at the Osmak only covers the pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative procedures.

"To deter any prolonged confinement, the attending physician of the accused and Dr. Perry Peralta are directed to submit a progress report to this court and the prosecutors led by Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Christopher Garvida on the medical condition of the patient immediately after the intra-operative procedure," the court order said.

On Tuesday, Dr. Peralta said Napoles would still need to undergo more tests before any procedure could be performed to remove her uterine myoma.

Peralta said they have conducted an x-ray examination, a computed tomography (CT) scan and a Two-Dimensional Echocardiogram (2D Echo) test on her shortly after arriving at the Osmak in Barangay Pembo at 10:19 p.m. on Monday.

"We are preparing her for definitive treatment. we are conducting the necessary tests and examinations in order to assess her risks and to clesr her for whatever treatment we intend to afford Mrs, Napoles," said Dr. Peralta.

"She will have to be examined by our different specialists. Based on the examinations, we will correlate from the results of the conducted tests. Saka natin malalaman kung ano pa ang kailangan ni Mrs. Napoles at kung anong treatment option ang kukunin namin. Yun ang status ni Mrs. Napoles sa ngayon," Peralta added.

Napoles is scheduled to undergo a blood test Wednesday.

Peralta said Napoles needs to go through a battery of diagnostic and therapeutic tests to lessen the risks she may have during surgery.

"It depends on the results of the examinations to be done. She has to be cleared so that the risks will not be that great when she is operated on. We still need to determine the other possible interventions needed. Pwedeng diagnostic, pwedeng therapeutic bago siya maoperahan. Diagnostics are tests. Therapeutic is treatment. Sometimes before a patient is operated on, kailangan makontrol ang blood sugar, blood pressure. the are things to be controlled before she is scheduled for surgery," he said.

Peralta added that the results of the tests on Napoles would determine the course of her treatment. He added that Napoles will undergo a separate procedure prior to her surgery.

"I cannot divulge any information on the treatment because we are not only looking at her problem sa reproductive organ. Meron kaming gagawin based on our initial plan. We will do something before the actual procedure. At the moment, we cannot divulge that because we are not authorized to divulge it at this point in time," he said.

Meanwhile, Peralta stressed that Napoles will not be getting special treatment during her stay at the Osmak. Peralta however admitted that Napoles is now staying at a "simple" room on the hospital's seventh floor.

"She is not affecting the other patients. We have protocols when we get patients such as these. If you are pertaining to VIP treatment, there is no VIP treatment. We make sure na hindi napapabayaan ang ibang pasyente namin. She basically only has a bed and a private toilet in the room. There is no category of single room in this hospital. This is a public hospital. Karamihan dito ay wards. Our single occupancy rooms have special uses. (Such as for) chemotherapy and infections. We do not have single occupancy rooms. Wala kaming pay ward," he said.

Peralta added that Napoles will be treated like a paying patient. Residents of Makati recieve free medical care at the Osmak through the city's "yellow card" program.

"We will bill her the way we bill any other patients. Mrs. Napoles is supposed to pay for the hospital bills," he said.

Peralta added that the Osmak has been ready to recieve Napoles since she went there for an emergency checkup after attending her hearing for illegal detention at the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 last March 21.

"When she first came here to assess her abdominal pain, they already manifested na gusto nilang mag pa opera dito. So from that time on, we were already preparing for her, kahit wala pang court order," he said.

Peralta added that Osmak may allow Napoles' personal doctors to assist on her treatment but only under "a limited authority to practice." He said the hospital will be filing a court motion on this.

"It depends on the court. We contacted the city legal department. The Ospital ng Makati is in a position to accomodate other doctors under a limited authority to practice. It would depend on the reason," he said.

Napoles, was whisked by her police escorts to  the out patient department of the Osmak at about 10:19 p.m. She was not handcuffed and was not wearing a bullet prooof vest when she arrived.

Supt. Manuel Lukban, Makati Police chief,  said Napoles will have to undergo several tests within three days before her surgery.

Lukban said Makati Police will serve as perimeter security around the hospital with elements of the Regional Public Safety Batallion of PNP Region 4-A as her close in security.

Earlier the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 granted her request for surgery to remove her uterine myoma and hospital confinement but only at the Ospital ng Makati.

“Ospital ng Makati, a government hospital is reasonable and logical place where the accused could undergo surgical operation and temporary confinement. Ospital mg Makati is also a workable solution to the contrasting views proffered by accused-movant and the prosecution,” said Alameda in his order.