Friday, April 18, 2008

Vicente Sotto Memorial Center scandal


I feel outraged over this recent scandal in the Cebu medical profession involving doctors and medical personnel in the Vicente Sotto Memorial Hospital.
As many may have already been informed through mainstream media, a homosexual was placed on the operating table after a canister was inserted into his anus.
As the gay patient narrated on radio, he picked up a person whom he bleieved was a call boy.
They has a sexual episode.
And becuase he was so drunk at that time, he no longer could ascertain what the call-boy did to him.
As it turned out, this cylindrical object was inserted into his anus.
He was rushed to the Vicente Memorial Center in Cebu and was attended to by the doctors and medical personnel there.
There was, obviously a medical procedure done to the gay patient immediately.
The procedure looked like a surgical intervention to remove the foreign cylindrical object.
The procedure was a success, and it turned out that it was a body spray (the brand is "Suede" or something) was inserted into the anus.
What outraged so many about this incident was that the medical procedure was recorded by cellphone videos, most probably by the medical personnel themselves.
The video revealed the circus atmosphere among the medical personnel surrounding the operating table, the video shows.
Worse, the video was uploaded to the internet, through You Tube.
The You Tube video post was subsequently removed. Here is an alternative video post can also be viewed.
This has been picked up even by the international press.
feel outraged at the unprofessional attitude of the medical people present during te procedure.
This is not only unprofessional. This is even a criminal act (unjust vexation would be the mildest charge here)
It was like they were witnessing some kind of etertaining event.
They were cheering, and making fun of the incident.
I thought that medical procedres, like surgey is supposed to be confidential.
If there is at all a video recording, it must be with the consent of the patient.
There are times when the a father would like to video tape the delivery of a newborn.
This can be allowed because there is consent.
The video recording, if it is done at all, must serve an overriding purpose, like for further scientific research.
A basic human right was violated here.
The right to privacy, and to human dignity is recognized not only in our municipal laws, but internationally, such as the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, that grants every person his right to privacy an dignity.
Now, because the scandalous video has been uploaded for the whole world to see, it has made it available literally for the entire global population.
What is tremendously unfortunate, and extremely ironic is that the Philippines is supposed to be known as among the best producers of talents in the medical profession.
This is something Filipino medical professionals abroad cerainly would not be proud of.
The highest officials of that hospital must answer for this.
They must answer why such a violation of human rights happened in their hospital.

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