Saturday, June 02, 2007 Editorial: A dangerous plan
THERE'S a gathering tempest over Republic Act No. 9439 - a law prohibiting the detention of patients in hospitals and medical clinics on grounds of nonpayment of hospital bills or medical expenses. RA 9439 was signed into law by President Arroyo on April 29.
Documents obtained from the office of Senate President Manny Villar show details of the salient provisions of the law.
In essence, RA 9439 seeks to prevent the undesirable practice of hospitals and medical clinics of preventing the discharge of patients -- either fully recovered or dead -- for reasons of nonpayment, either partially or fully, of hospital bills.
This practice unnecessarily delays the discharge of patient, thus causing hospital bills to bloat, adding to the misery of distressed patients and their families. It is a simple "case of detention, which is an act against the will of the patients, thus constituting deprivation of liberty without legal cause."
Some hospitals in Davao City and elsewhere in the country are planning to go on holiday to dramatize their opposition to the new law. These oppositors should be careful about this dangerous plan as they could be violating the law and abandoning their Hippocratic oath if they close their hospitals even for just an hour. What if some patients die in the process? The oppositors' intransigence might just force the hand of lawmakers to approve post-haste the controversial bill against medical malpractices.
This protest action calls to mind an incident during the first term of Rodrigo Duterte as mayor of Davao City. A labor group staged a strike against an oxygen and acetylene company. The unionists closed the establishment preventing the release of oxygen needed by patients in hospitals. The situation prompted the mayor to mount a truck and storm the barricade to get the oxygen tanks out to save the patients.
The unionists lost their cause on top of becoming villains in the eyes of the public.
