THE doctor who allegedly turned away Mary Jane Bariquit may have violated the provincial ordinance that ensures free medical care to children aged below six years old.
This, according to the Cebu Provincial Board’s (PB) committee on health.
Because of this, Capitol pulled out Dr. Agnes Ademano from the emergency room (ER) of the Minglanilla District Hospital (MDH) and transferred her to the out-patient department (OPD) pending her investigation.
Gov. Hilario Davide III said he will wait for the result of the investigation before he decides what to do with the medical personnel concerned.
In his news conference yesterday, he said he will not tolerate indifference in the district hospitals and other government offices.
The Bariquit case has bothered his conscience, he said. “Quite frankly, naulaw ko sa hitabo (I am ashamed of what happened). It should not have happened.”
Mary Jane, one year old, was buried yesterday.
The PB committee on health called MDH officials concerned to a hearing yesterday morning following the death of Mary Jane on allegation of hospital negligence.
The committee heard the doctors’ side after the Provincial Health Office’s (PHO) separate review of the incident.
Ademano was made to answer accusations that when Mary Jane was rushed to the MDH on the night of November 7, she told Jessie Bariquit, the mother, to buy dextrose fluids, a tube, needle, and some medicines for the infant who was suffering from diarrhea.
The baby was vomiting.
Juanita, who accompanied her daughter Jessie, only had P200 that night and could not buy the doctor’s prescribed medicine, which cost P700.
Ademano allegedly told them to go home when they could not produce the medicine.
During the closed-door committee hearing held at the vice governor’s conference room, Ademano reportedly denied telling the accusation hurled against her.
Ordinance 2015-17
Also during the hearing, PB Member Celestino Martinez III said there may have been a violation of Ordinance 2015-17, also known as “An Ordinance Mandating Provincial and District Hospitals in the Province of Cebu to Provide Free Medical Care to Children ages Zero to Six Years Old, of Indigent Parents.”
The ordinance was approved during an out-of-town session in Samboan last June 22.
Martinez, the author of the ordinance, read Section 5 of the ordinance, which Ademano may have violated.
“The beneficiaries and their indigent parents should not be charged for any medical care and attention given to them by the provincial hospital concerned. They should not be billed nor be made to pay for any other medical, incidental or miscellaneous expenses,” Martinez said, quoting the ordinance.
He said the ordinance imposes an administrative sanction of suspension for six months without pay, if proven guilty.
The ordinance’s punishable acts include denying the patient of free medical care and attention and “referring beneficiaries to private or other pharmacies even if there are available medicines in the concerned provincial hospital/in-house pharmacies.”
Lapses in judgment
In a press conference yesterday, Dr. Cynthia Genosolango, head of the PHO, reiterated that there were lapses on the judgment of the medical staff.
She said the lapses started when the doctor wrote the prescription.
“Had we not made that prescription, because we didn’t have to do that, then it would not have happened,” she said.
But on the issue that the baby would have survived had medicines been administered immediately, Genosolango said she could not say so.
“I call it misjudgment because she (Ademano) made a decision. She made the judgment to treat the patient, prescribed the needed medication but there was just no proper instruction,” Genosolango said.
Genosolango said all the medical supplies intended for Mary Jane were supposed to be available at the district hospital’s pharmacy, except the gauge 26 needle needed to administer the fluids.
She said that the night Mary Jane was brought to the hospital, the pharmacy was locked because the pharmacist was already off duty. The keys were turned over to the security guard, who could have given the ER staff access to the pharmacy when needed.
After yesterday’s hearing, the PB committee on health will transmit the case to the Capitol’s committee on discipline and investigation (CODI) for investigation, before sanctions will be imposed on Ademano.
Pursue motu propio
For his part, PB member Peter John Calderon, chair of the committee on health, said they will pursue the administrative complaint against Ademano even without a complainant.
Calderon said the governor may put Ademano under preventive suspension.
Ademano, an internist, attends to patients in the ER every Friday and Saturday, but she was advised not to report today. She will start her OPD assignment next week.
At the Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish, a priest blessed the remains of Mary Jane at 2 p.m. yesterday before it was brought to the City of Naga Catholic Cemetery in Barangay Naalad.
Despite initial findings that there were lapses in judgment on the medical personnel’s part, Mary Jane’s family stands by their earlier statement that they will not file a complaint against the doctor and MDH personnel.
‘No justice’
Juanita, Mary Jane’s grandmother, again said that it was enough for them that the government’s attention was called to the incident.
Juanita said they don’t need to file a complaint against the hospital to prove their point.
But Apple Soberano, who helped Mary Jane’s family in calling MDH’s attention through social media, was disappointed over their refusal to file a complaint against the hospital.
Soberano told Sun.Star Cebu that a complaint against the hospital would not only help Mary Jane’s family find closure, it would also save future patients from the same treatment.
She chided the mother and grandmother for not “fighting” for Mary Jane and giving justice to her death. “Luoy sad kaayo ang bata, wala ninyo gi-fight siya. Hatagan unta ninyo og hustisya ang pagkamatay sa bata.”
Garcia: Immoral
In a press statement, One Cebu gubernatorial aspirant Winston Garcia reiterated his demand for Capitol officials to withdraw its policy charging patients for emergency services, saying it should be given for free.
“It is not enough to say sorry. It is not enough to suspend the doctor... It is immoral for government hospitals to charge for emergency services,” Garcia said.
Meanwhile, Cebu Rep. Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas (Cebu, 1st) wants hospital personnel responsible for Mary Jane’s death to be held accountable.
Gullas, in a statement, said the hospital could have looked for other ways to fund Mary Jane’s medical care and check up, such as seeking the help of the local government unit.
Hospitalization subsidies for indigents are also given by the Department of Health (DOH) and Philhealth, he said.