ONE month after my fully recuperated patient was discharged and was appropriately billed by the hospital, the attending physician, Dr. Geovanni A. Patalinghug, refused to issue a medical certificate to declare that the patient he once treated and discharged is fit to return to work.
The first time I met this doctor was sometime in 2012 in one of my favorite jogging trails near a seminary in Catalunan. He was with the team of three going downhill and I was with the youth going uphill. As we crossed path, swapped greetings with genuine and modest smiles, a companion recognized him as the president of the then Davao Adventist Hospital. His fatherly figure that we respect left a hallmark in my heart until February 18, 2019 when he willfully dehumanized my patient.
His non-issuance set out when he learned that we seek second and subsequent opinions from other medical specialists in Davao Doctors and San Pedro Hospitals on how a cranial (brain plain) scan relates to cough.
His ego and arrogance are attempts to suppress our freedom; and a replication of his shallow knowledge if there is, to the basic rights of a patient as published in the website of the Department of Health (DOH).
To remind him and to inform the reading public, one of the rights of a patient under paragraph The Right to Choose Health Care Provider and Facility, reads: The patient has the right to discuss his condition with a consultant specialist, at the patient's request and expense. He also has the right to seek for a second opinion and subsequent opinions, if appropriate, from another health care provider or practitioner.
Even with his ignorance (ignorantia), I don’t want to apply the Ad Hominem fallacy on this issue. Neither I have the interest to know the reason why he stepped down from being the President, Medical Director and now maintained a clinic at the above-named hospital.
I hope he is aware that the law provides only 45 days for him to perform his obligation to the patient who has the rights for medical records; else his ethical, moral and legal awareness must be examined.
On the lighter side, even if Patalinghug deliberately challenged his conscience when he ignored the ethics of a medical practitioner, I wish to see him again on the same hill and hear his fatherly tone of greetings, to regain a respect. And even with his actuation, with gratefulness, I wish to mention few good men who live under Hippocratic Oath who became instruments for the fast recovery of my patient: Dr. Jeam Vanessa Tabaranza, Dr. Irish Ruth Batalla, Dr. Dorotheo Floresca Jr., Dr. Edwin Garcia, Dr. Mervin Marcos, and Dr. Orlando Basilio Jr. To all of you, my everlasting gratitude! (abrigodann@gamil.com)