Charges to be filed vs 2 docs who cut patient's intestine

MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman ordered for the filing of criminal charges yesterday against two Oriental Mindoro doctors who injured a patient’s intestines during a caesarian operation more than five years ago.

The anti-graft agency said it found enough basis to file cases against doctors Ma. Cristina Gonzales and Rodolfo Avelino, both of the Oriental Mindoro Provincial Hospital in Calapan City, for reckless imprudence resulting to serious physical injuries.

The complaint against them stemmed from how they allegedly injured the intestines of one Anabel Abao-Genabe during a caesarian operation on Nov. 27, 2005.

Allegedly, Gonzales was her obstetrician-gynecologist while Avelino, a surgeon, was the one who assisted the attending doctor during the operation.

Abao-Genabe alleged that her intestine was cut which resulted in a three to four centimeters iothrogenic injury to the small bowel, extensive adhesion of the bowel and to the uterus.

The complainant said her skin turned yellowish, her body became swollen, she developed rectal bleeding, her bowel came out from her abdominal wounds and she suffered evisceration caused by the operation.

She claimed she was discharged from the public hospital despite the fact that she has not yet fully recovered and that she was brought to the same hospital on Dec. 5, 2005 but was transferred to the Sta. Maria Village Clinic because there was no one attending to her.

Due to the lack of medical equipment needed and because of the seriousness of Abao-Genabe’s physical condition, she was eventually rushed to the Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital in Manila where she underwent another surgery on Dec. 8, 2005.