Poor patient sues bone surgeon

An indigent Caloocan City resident is suing a bone surgeon from the Philippine Orthopedic Center (POC) for malpractice and gross negligence for allegedly deforming her left arm after operating on her fractured wrist.

Carmelita Salinas, 52, of 711 Heroes del ’96 Street, Caloocan City sought the assistance of the media in bringing her case to the attention of Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Manuel Dayrit.

The victim identified her "tormentor" and cause of her present "suffering and psychological trauma" only as "Dr. Abugado" assigned at POC.

Showing documents, which include X-ray results, Salinas said she accidentally fell from the stairs of her two-story house at around 1 p.m. of April 13. Immediately, she was taken by her neighbors to the POC on Banawe street in Quezon City where she was allegedly attended to by "Dr. Abugado."

After undergoing an X-ray test, Salinas alleged that the doctor put a steel splint, which she bought for P4,000 on her broken left wrist. She said she was made to stay put for observation.

Four days later, Abugado returned to check on her but when she noticed that her left arm which had become swollen, the doctor allegedly twisted her arm in an attempt to "correct" its position, causing her to shout and cry in pain.

The twisting, she said, allegedly caused her elbow to shift its position from the back to the front. Now, she could not bend her arm at the elbow. She said she was never informed by the doctor about this bone misalignment but proceeded to have her forearm in a cast.

Abugado allegedly told her that he would have to cement her left arm to complete the repair of her fractured wrist to which she agreed.

Three months later, the doctor removed her cast, looked over her X-ray and advised her to undergo therapy to normalize the movement of her left arm. She went to a therapist at the Caloocan General Hospital but upon looking at her recent X-ray and her injury, she was referred back to the POC adding they could not "touch" it at its present condition. Exhausted and helpless, she approached POC director Jesus Dueñas to inform him and get help for her left arm which had been virtually crippled as a result of Abugado’s alleged malpractice. – Jerry Botial