The dilemma that our medical practitioners face today

Los Angeles, California – US News and World Report writer Mary Brophy Marcus wrote an article a few years back, entitled Healthcare’s Perfect Storm. This was about the critical shortages of physicians in the United States and the escalating cost of healthcare due to the malpractice crisis. They said the article was like a bad omen to the Americans because today America is facing a serious crisis in healthcare cost. Medicare, private insurance companies and medical care providers are going bankrupt.

“People are dying,” according to Loren Johnson, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians (California chapter) because states are running low on vital medical specialists and services. And all these came as a result of the mandated malpractice insurance for all physicians in America. Training hospitals are concerned that the high cost of malpractice premium they have to buy for their residents might cause them to close their programs and further reduce the number of practicing physicians in the country, thus, making healthcare even less accessible for the people.

The same crisis can readily cause havoc to our own healthcare system if we allow the passage of a law aimed at preventing medical malpractice by mandating all physicians in the country to buy malpractice insurance as physicians in the US are required to have. If this happens, lowly citizens of this country will suffer even more. This includes the sickness-prone and the senior citizens of the country. To cover the high cost of the insurance premium physicians will have to increase their professional fees, thus, causing more people to shun away from getting medical help when they need it.

During the term of Dr. Bu Castro, then president of the Philippine Medical Association, position papers were issued for different bills filed in Congress. These papers educated the medical community, the legislators, pro-medical malpractice groups, and the uninformed Filipino people regarding the detrimental effects of the malpractice bills.

Since then, there has been continued vigilance and activism on the part of the medical community against the harsh anti-doctors and anti-patients bills. Doctors are of the belief that when politicians meddle and legislate bills created become unfavorable to the medical community, the state of the health care system in this country faces more trouble.

Of course, we all know that there have been horrible stories of medical malpractice in the country that have resulted from utter carelessness and incompetence among our medical practitioners. However, how sure are we that a tougher and more comprehensive medical malpractice law will protect patients? Will it not send the wrong signal that one can easily sue his physician anytime anywhere and earn an extra buck? Susmariosep!

The news that the House has given the green signal for stiffer penalty for medical malpractice was met with varied reactions from medical practitioners, patients and the general public. House Bill 6538, now Senate Bill 3137 and pending for second reading provides that any physician who practices in a field of medical specialization which is not within the scope of his or her specialization may face life imprisonment under the provisions of the proposed Physicians Act of 2012. A fine ranging from P500,000 to P2 million and a maximum penalty of life imprisonment will be imposed if the death of a patient occurs as a result of the practice of a field of medical specialty outside the field of the doctor involved.

The same penalties will be imposed when a patient dies as a result of the practice of medicine by unqualified individuals who are assisted by licensed doctors. Penalties ranging from one year to five year imprisonment will be meted out to persons found guilty of the following acts, among others: practicing medicine without professional ID for doctors; use of certificate of registration or professional ID of others; issuance of false or forged documents or credentials to the board; false impersonation of a doctor with like or different name; and misdeclaration or giving false impressions as a licensed physician.

The bill will repeal the nearly obsolete RA 2382 or the Medical Act of 1959. It will also create the Professional Regulatory Board of Medicine which will supervise, control, and regulate the practice of medicine in the country; determine the qualifications of physicians and the educational requirements for doctors and administer the physicians licensure examinations.

Is everybody happy with this? No! A few weeks ago, Philippine Medical Association Governor Leo Olarte warned that a proposed law aimed at preventing medical malpractice can have adverse effects to the public. For one, it will prevent doctors from acting on emergency situations. What happens when someone is about to give birth and is in need of a doctor and the only one available is a dermatologist, will he just turn around and walk away because it is not his field of specialization and he fears imprisonment? It will not be right because a doctor’s intention is to save lives particularly during emergency situations and not just let people die because of a stupid law. Isn’t that even a greater form of malpractice?

Even Health Secretary Enrique Ona has also expressed reservations on this particular provision of the proposed bill. He hopes that this provision should not be criminalized. Otherwise we end up suffering from a shortage of doctors and other medical professionals.

I think the punishment to be imposed on what is now considered a criminal act is too harsh and excessive. Pretty soon we will see that what the authors and sponsors of the bill thought to be something that would protect us and our rights, improve healthcare at a more affordable price has become a nightmare to many. As a matter of fact, it will cause more expensive medical care because all doctors will resort to all sorts of tests before they treat the patient or even just give a diagnosis. There will also be difficult access to physicians and less quality care.

Do we really need another law to ensure the safety of the citizens in the hands of medical practitioners? We already have adequate laws under the Revised Penal Code to protect the patients against incompetent, negligent, erring and criminal physicians. All we need to do now is to make sure these existing laws are implemented with consistency and great efficiency for the good of the Filipino people. As they say, our laws are effective, if enforced properly.