Swimming in Muck: the Philippine Medical Profession

Transplant tourism, the rectum surgery scandal, last year's brouhaha over leaks in the nursing board exams, and now, Filipino hospitals involved in the US veterans' insurance scam.

Just when will all these controversies regarding the Philippine medical profession end?

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Let me give my dear readers an overview of these said scandals, starting with the Philippines being a premiere destination for "transplant tourism."

Early this year, it was revealed through media that several jail inmates, as well as people from the more impoverished areas of the country, have been living with only one kidney. As it turned out, these people sold their other kidneys to foreigners who paid them with quite a substantial sum of money. They were made to believe that since they still had one kidney left, their bodies can still function normally.

Blinded by money that could support their respective families for some time, these individuals are now slowly finding out the repercussions resulting from the loss of their other kidney. Most of them are no longer as physically strong as they were, and some of them are now deprived of specific food and beverages that could otherwise make their weakened condition worse.

The Department of Health (DOH) has already stepped in on the matter, banning the continuation of such a trade perpetrated not only by foreigners but also by wealthy Filipinos in need of kidney transplants. Both the kidney "transplantees" and "receivers" are up in arms regarding this issue, and debates on this matter have yet to be resolved.

It's creepy and somewhat twisted to think that people would be so desperate so as to sell their vital organs just for a few months' release from financial deprivation.

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The rectum surgery scandal, of course, is the one where an admittedly-gay person underwent surgery for removal of a six-inch long body spray canister which was inserted in his rectum by his lover. The said surgery could have gone on smoothly and quietly -- but medical personnel of the Vicente Sotto Medical Memorial Center (VSMMC) decided to do otherwise. All throughout the procedure, the poor patient became victim to jeers and cajoling from these beasts in white. Several of them even brought in cellular phones to the surgery room and took pictures and videos of the procedure. One of these cellphone videos even made it to YouTube and registered a whopping two million hits. For more details of this, just click on this link to my earlier entry pertaining to this issue.

Recently, names of the five main members of the surgery team who operated on the hapless gay patient were released. Just to make sure they get their just desserts, allow me to name these foul creatures who took their playfulness in the operating room a little too far:

- VSMMC head surgeon Dr. Philip Leo Arias
- Assistant surgeon Dr. Angelo Linawagan
- Surgeon Dr. Max Joseph Montecillo
- Nursing attendant Rosemarie Villareal
- Circulating nurse Carmina Sapio

Just a personal note to these five people: if justice is not given to you so-called paragons of the Philippine medical profession here on Earth, then may your souls burn in Hell.

Only five people were named as participants in the rectum surgery scandal, but I am very sure that there are more. The video proves that. Even these noisy onlookers should be deemed as accessories to the crime. Not even one of them thought of at least shushing the group.

I say, take away all of their licenses! Ban all of them from the medical profession forever!

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It's been some time since the issue about leaks in the 2006 nursing board examination has been discussed, but it still haunts the local nursing profession. A shadow of doubt now hangs over credentials of nurses going abroad. Even those nurses are already working in hospitals and nursing homes abroad are being regarded with suspicion.

I can't blame foreign employers for having this state of mind. I mean, honestly, how long has this cheating been going on? For all we know, we've already been sending nurses with bogus credentials abroad for some time already.

Look at the nurses who took part in the rectum surgery scandal. They make one truly wonder about the quality of nurses our nursing schools are producing these days.

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Now, here's something new to add to the list of the Philippine medical profession's foibles. the US State Department recently revealed that a number of Philippine hospitals are involved in a million-dollar US veteran insurance anomaly.

This is very embarrassing. Imagine: Philippine medical personnel are actually involved in including names of people who aren't even war veterans in a list of those who are supposed to be eligible for insurance claims from the US government.

If they thought the US State Department wasn't going to find out, then they'd better think again.

Somehow, I believe that this is sort of a comeuppance for Filipinos who always think they can "get away with murder," so to say.

I had an uncle who served as some sort of a guerrilla in World War II. I said "some sort of" because he wasn't much of a guerrilla. In fact, he was among those responsible for the burning of our town proper, as well as the eventual looting. They rationalized that they had to burn the town so that the Japanese won't have any place to hide. (Yeah, right.) My mother's ancestral home was reduced to ashes because of that.

After the war, this uncle of mine was able to avail of benefits due for US war veterans. Well and good, except that he also listed his wife (she was the one I was related to) as a veteran -- even if she was not. Thus, they received money from the US up to the day they bit the dust.

This is just one story. I'm sure there are others who also duped the US into giving more than they should.

And it pains me to say that we once again find Philippine medical practitioners at the heart of this scandal.

When will we ever learn?

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I don't know how the Philippine medical profession can get out of the muck it has submerged itself in. One thing is sure, though: our esteemed doctors and nurses should probably recite the Hippocratic Oath again and digest the principles that this oath stands for.

The Philippine government should also probably set aside its grand plans for "medical tourism" for the meantime and instead concentrate on moves to weed out unscrupulous individuals who mar the face of Philippine medical practice and strengthen efforts to come up with a credible, dependable, and world-class healthcare industry.

Either that, or probably we should just accept the fact that Philippine health service sucks and do nothing about it. How about playing golf instead?

The "Body Spray" Video Brouhaha and Ghosts of "Desperate Housewives"

After being proud of the Filipino race with the emergence of ZTE scam whistle-blower Jun Lozada and Renaldo Lapus' unforgettable performance in the "American Idol" auditions, here comes another incident to drag down my euphoria.

Lately, a video on YouTube managed to once again destroy my belief that "the Filipino can." Yup, the Filipino really can...make a total fool of himself, that is.

The video I'm referring to is the one about an allegedly gay patient who had a body spray canister taken out of his rectum surgically following a sexual act with his partner. Unfortunately, the whole procedure was done amid cajoling by the team of doctors and nurses who were operating on him. A bevy of cellular phones with camera/video capabilities were also seen in the video taking closeup shots of the operation. The poor patient couldn't do anything about it, considering that he was in an...errrrr...compromising position.

This video soon found its way to YouTube where about two million hits registered in only a few days. But don't bother looking for it now: the person who posted it (said to be one of the interns there) already deleted it.

I simply have to take note of the hospital where this detestable incident occurred: the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City.

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The latest development regarding this relates to the public apology offered by the medical staff of the VSMMC to the patient whose rectum became an instant celebity.

Good Lord: a public apology?! Doesn't the poor guy deserve something better than that?

It's a good thing that the Office of the Ombudsman, as well as the Department of Health are stepping in to investigate and provide the necessary sanctions for these erring hospital staff. The VSMMC is a public hospital after all, and we poor taxpayers would like to see our money going to deserving public servants, not beasts like these VSMMC doctors and nurses.

I want to see heads rolling this time.

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Somehow, ghosts of the past are coming back to haunt us after this controversy. Remember the big fuss we made over that racial slur on medical schools in a recent episode of Desperate Housewives? (Read my earlier entry regarding this by clicking on this link.)

The producers of the said show must be laughing their heads off by now.

Geez, and we had the gall to demand for a public apology then...

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There are dire consequences stemming from this video brouhaha. First is the breach of ethics upon the public screening of this said video. A patient reserves the right to privacy in every surgical operation unless there is consent to have the said procedure documented on video or in pictures. The mere fact that the video was placed in YouTube of all places was already tantamount to robbing the patient of his vital right. To add more insult to injury, the patient was being openly ridiculed by so-called professionals whom he trusted to conduct the operation on him.

I could only imagine the utter shame this patient was feeling during the entire process.

His butt may be healing already, but I doubt it if his dignity is. And dignity isn't something you can buy either in the sari-sari store next door or in the glitziest mall in the city.

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Another can of worms opened by this video is the sorry state of public hospitals in the Philippines. The VSMMC isn't the only public hospital with crappy medical staff and horrible facilities. In fact, almost all public hospitals in the Philippines have personnel like these atrocious beings.

Many of these medical personnel apparently have this "rich-man-poor-man" syndrome that they use over their patients who mostly come from the poorer segment of society. Knowing fully well that most of these patients can only afford nothing more than charity, these monsters in white treat them shabbily with little or no regard for their welfare. In their minds, they think: "I'm just in this hellhole for the salary. Why go the extra mile for these smelly rats? Heck, I shouldn't be here in the first place!"

These medical personnel may argue that with the kind of compensation they are receiving in public hospitals, there really isn't much to hope for. However, this doesn't give them a license to be total boors to their indigent patients.

Example: in a maternity ward. One pregnant woman is already in labor and is screaming in pain from the contractions. Apparently bothered by the noise, the nurses shout at her to shut up. "Wala ka namang pambayad ng anaesthesia, kaya magdusa ka diyan (Since you don't have money to pay for anaesthesia, then just bear with the pain)!" says one of them. Another riles her and says, "Sisigaw-sigaw ka diyan, tapos wala pang isang taon, nandito ka na naman (You keep on shouting in pain and yet a year won't even pass and you'll be back here again)!"

Talk about being sterling examples of healthcare.

Probably these people have yet to be acquainted with the term, "public service."

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Another point raised here is the issue of gay acceptance in Philippine society. True, the deed of having a six-inch long body spray inserted in one's rectum during a sexual male-to-male act can be considered horrendous and downright kinky. (Honestly, just the thought of having something like that shoved up my own ass must be really, REALLY painful and totally unexciting -- but of course, different strokes for different folks.) However, this should not be a valid reason for the victim/patient to be ridiculed on the operating table, much less, for the entire act to be caught on video.

So he's gay. He's got a body spray canister up his rectum. He's in pain, so I guess he and his partner won't be trying anything like that again -- or at least in the near future. Can't these people be professional about it and just take the darn canister out without turning the entire spectacle into a Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus?

Or do these monsters in white think they can make fun of this person simply because he's gay?

Hypothetical question: would these people have been more professional toward the situation if the patient was a female?

The point here is that whether straight or gay, a person still has the right to preserve his/her dignity, whether on the operating table or anywhere else.

One doesn't need to look for that in any medical code of ethics because it is a basic human right -- as basic as free speech.

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Last case in point -- the effect of this latest spectacle on medical tourism. Lately, the Philippines has turned into a hub for medical tourism. In fact, note the spas, wellness centers, and the like opening all over the place. Private hospitals are investing in state-of-the-art facilities to accomodate the influx of people -- both local and foreign -- who want to experience the best of what the Philippine medical profession can offer. So much money is being invested so that we can be known as a center of wellness and professionalism in the medical sphere.

And now, this.

If I was a foreigner who stumbled upon the VSMMC video, I'd be shaking my head in disgust.

I am a Filipina, and I'm still shaking my head in disgust.

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Sigh, another deduction in points for the Filipino.

By the way, if you want to understand more about this issue, simply click on the link to this news article from Sun.Star Cebu online.