Full Version: Medical Malpractice (aka Patient's Rights) Bill
Does anybody know the progress of this extremely stupid bill pending in both houses of tongress? Have any of you read it and what are your thoughts?
it took me 2 minutes before i found the info your looking for. i've found two:
Bill outlining patient's right
Medical malpractice bills tackled anew
so far, yun pa lang nakikita ko. later na lang ulit ako maghahanap. have a nice day
Bill outlining patient's right
Medical malpractice bills tackled anew
so far, yun pa lang nakikita ko. later na lang ulit ako maghahanap. have a nice day
Rep. Rodriguez denied that the Magna Carta of Patient’s Rights is similar to the medical malpractice bill. (April 23, 2003)
Yes, I have already read the provisions of both proposed bills. I have heaps of reservations (and violent reactions) to them. The most diplomatic are:
1. Unconstitutionality of the bills. Medical malpractice is already covered in the Medical Act of 1959 with a pending update in the Senate as of 2003. Filing a bill specifically targeting a subpopulation is tantamount to class legislation which is unconstitutional. If this bill is pushed into law, shouldn't there also be specific malpractice laws against broadcast people, lawyers, businessmen, etc.?
2. We already have too many lawyers thriving on the chaotic nature of our justice system. This will be another milking cow for ambulance chasers who do not know the difference between complications (avoidable or otherwise) of treatment vis-a-vis medical negligence.
3. Mandating compulsory medical malpractice insurance will only drive up the cost of health care as the cost of coverage will eventually be passed on to patients. The health care system in the United States is specifically on a downward spiral because of the dictates of HMOs and insurance companies.
I have other notes, suggestions and sentiments, but I have to get back to work...
1. Unconstitutionality of the bills. Medical malpractice is already covered in the Medical Act of 1959 with a pending update in the Senate as of 2003. Filing a bill specifically targeting a subpopulation is tantamount to class legislation which is unconstitutional. If this bill is pushed into law, shouldn't there also be specific malpractice laws against broadcast people, lawyers, businessmen, etc.?
2. We already have too many lawyers thriving on the chaotic nature of our justice system. This will be another milking cow for ambulance chasers who do not know the difference between complications (avoidable or otherwise) of treatment vis-a-vis medical negligence.
3. Mandating compulsory medical malpractice insurance will only drive up the cost of health care as the cost of coverage will eventually be passed on to patients. The health care system in the United States is specifically on a downward spiral because of the dictates of HMOs and insurance companies.
I have other notes, suggestions and sentiments, but I have to get back to work...
To all those who are concerned about health care in the Philippines: There is now a bill being tackled in the Senate that rehashes the junked Medical Malpractice (aka Patient's Rights) bill sponsored by the uncelebrated Oscar Rodriguez of Pampanga. In a nutshell, this bill sponsored by Manny Villar is a verbatim copy of the shelved bill by Rodriguez with a few additions.
Aside from the criminalization of 'medical negligence' (which is very poorly defined in the bill as it does not distinguish complications of treatment from actual negligence) with a stiffer penalty than treason, homicide and mutilation, it would also make malpractice insurance mandatory for MDs and dentists. What this translates to is that the cost of insurance will be passed on to (who else?) the patient. In an era where MDs are leaving in droves (to the tune of 2000 per year) either as physicians or nurses, do the proponents of this insanely idiotic bill view their proposal as helping the already poor health care situation of the country?
Baloney! I say. To the MDs reading this thread, let us keep vigilant about this appalling development in the country. To those not in the medical field, sooner or later (later I hope) you will need our services. I also enjoin you to keep track of developments in this matter. This affects us all and I hope we all take whatever action we can take to stop this madness from achieving fruition.
Aside from the criminalization of 'medical negligence' (which is very poorly defined in the bill as it does not distinguish complications of treatment from actual negligence) with a stiffer penalty than treason, homicide and mutilation, it would also make malpractice insurance mandatory for MDs and dentists. What this translates to is that the cost of insurance will be passed on to (who else?) the patient. In an era where MDs are leaving in droves (to the tune of 2000 per year) either as physicians or nurses, do the proponents of this insanely idiotic bill view their proposal as helping the already poor health care situation of the country?
Baloney! I say. To the MDs reading this thread, let us keep vigilant about this appalling development in the country. To those not in the medical field, sooner or later (later I hope) you will need our services. I also enjoin you to keep track of developments in this matter. This affects us all and I hope we all take whatever action we can take to stop this madness from achieving fruition.
Haven't read the proposed bill yet but I feel that it's high time for legislation regarding this matter.
Does everyone know that the only charges which can be brought up against a doctor are slight/serious physical injuries and homicide through reckless imprudence (which is also used in automobile accidents)?
To recount a family experience last February with Dra. M (daughter of a famous ob-gyn - not the brother, who is also an ob-gyn) at MMedical Center.
My sister (33 weeks pregnant) complained of spotting on Feb. 24. As she had been exhibiting signs of high blood during her pre-natal visits during the last 6 weeks, she was rushed to MMC on the same night.
Both she and her baby were hooked on their respective monitors. Around midnight, Dra. M came and personally administered the ultra-sound. She stressed and personally assured my mother and brother-in-law that both my sister and the baby were fine.
Reassured, my mother left at 2 am of Feb. 25.
Come 6 am, my mother calls, sobbing and tells me that the baby was gone and that my sister was now fighting for her life due to blood poisoning.
Abruptio placenta, it seems, occurred UNDETECTED (despite the aforementioned mother & child monitors) sometime at 4 am.
To make a long story short, fortunately my sister survived (despite another incident of negligence involving the MMC blood bank).
I have talked to my batchmateS now practicing at MMC, my wife's oby-gyn & her classmate who is likewise an ob-gyn and my father-in-law (MD). The have all come up with the same conclusion:
MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE
Dutifully, I gathered as much evidence as I could. However, during the course of my "fact-finding", no one, not the nurses, the hospital, nor even my close friends or even my father-in-law was willing to testify or put any observation onto writing.
Most of them advised me not pursue the matter as Doctors in the Philippines, seemingly adhere to a MAFIA-like code of OMERTA, or silence. To seriously pursue a negligence case, my sister and I would have to import a foreign doctor to testify for and in my sister's behalf.
So today, I sit here stewing, thinking about the lifeless body of my niece, whom I cradled in MMC's morgue. I think about my sister, unable to conceive at the moment, who is now suffering from high blood and mental anguish over what could have been.
This is but one case. Just recently, a family friend was misdiagnosed in St. Medical Center in QC. She was made to undergo unnecessary and painful procedures which have them teetering on bankruptcy. You'll be hearing about this case courtesy of Korina Sanchez soon.
If these shenanigans can happen at MMC and St.MC, where our best and brightest doctors practice, who's to say it doesn't happen elsewhere?
Extremely stupid bill? Doctors should stop looking out for their own self-interests for once and acknowledge reality.
Does everyone know that the only charges which can be brought up against a doctor are slight/serious physical injuries and homicide through reckless imprudence (which is also used in automobile accidents)?
To recount a family experience last February with Dra. M (daughter of a famous ob-gyn - not the brother, who is also an ob-gyn) at MMedical Center.
My sister (33 weeks pregnant) complained of spotting on Feb. 24. As she had been exhibiting signs of high blood during her pre-natal visits during the last 6 weeks, she was rushed to MMC on the same night.
Both she and her baby were hooked on their respective monitors. Around midnight, Dra. M came and personally administered the ultra-sound. She stressed and personally assured my mother and brother-in-law that both my sister and the baby were fine.
Reassured, my mother left at 2 am of Feb. 25.
Come 6 am, my mother calls, sobbing and tells me that the baby was gone and that my sister was now fighting for her life due to blood poisoning.
Abruptio placenta, it seems, occurred UNDETECTED (despite the aforementioned mother & child monitors) sometime at 4 am.
To make a long story short, fortunately my sister survived (despite another incident of negligence involving the MMC blood bank).
I have talked to my batchmateS now practicing at MMC, my wife's oby-gyn & her classmate who is likewise an ob-gyn and my father-in-law (MD). The have all come up with the same conclusion:
MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE
Dutifully, I gathered as much evidence as I could. However, during the course of my "fact-finding", no one, not the nurses, the hospital, nor even my close friends or even my father-in-law was willing to testify or put any observation onto writing.
Most of them advised me not pursue the matter as Doctors in the Philippines, seemingly adhere to a MAFIA-like code of OMERTA, or silence. To seriously pursue a negligence case, my sister and I would have to import a foreign doctor to testify for and in my sister's behalf.
So today, I sit here stewing, thinking about the lifeless body of my niece, whom I cradled in MMC's morgue. I think about my sister, unable to conceive at the moment, who is now suffering from high blood and mental anguish over what could have been.
This is but one case. Just recently, a family friend was misdiagnosed in St. Medical Center in QC. She was made to undergo unnecessary and painful procedures which have them teetering on bankruptcy. You'll be hearing about this case courtesy of Korina Sanchez soon.
If these shenanigans can happen at MMC and St.MC, where our best and brightest doctors practice, who's to say it doesn't happen elsewhere?
Extremely stupid bill? Doctors should stop looking out for their own self-interests for once and acknowledge reality.
QUOTE(Ghostrider @ Oct 5 2004, 02:42 PM)
Haven't read the proposed bill yet but I feel that it's high time for legislation regarding this matter.
Does everyone know that the only charges which can be brought up against a doctor are slight/serious physical injuries and homicide through reckless imprudence (which is also used in automobile accidents)?
To recount a family experience last February with Dra. M (daughter of a famous ob-gyn - not the brother, who is also an ob-gyn) at MMedical Center.
My sister (33 weeks pregnant) complained of spotting on Feb. 24. As she had been exhibiting signs of high blood during her pre-natal visits during the last 6 weeks, she was rushed to MMC on the same night.
Both she and her baby were hooked on their respective monitors. Around midnight, Dra. M came and personally administered the ultra-sound. She stressed and personally assured my mother and brother-in-law that both my sister and the baby were fine.
Reassured, my mother left at 2 am of Feb. 25.
Come 6 am, my mother calls, sobbing and tells me that the baby was gone and that my sister was now fighting for her life due to blood poisoning.
Abruptio placenta, it seems, occurred UNDETECTED (despite the aforementioned mother & child monitors) sometime at 4 am.
To make a long story short, fortunately my sister survived (despite another incident of negligence involving the MMC blood bank).
I have talked to my batchmateS now practicing at MMC, my wife's oby-gyn & her classmate who is likewise an ob-gyn and my father-in-law (MD). The have all come up with the same conclusion:
MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE
Dutifully, I gathered as much evidence as I could. However, during the course of my "fact-finding", no one, not the nurses, the hospital, nor even my close friends or even my father-in-law was willing to testify or put any observation onto writing.
Most of them advised me not pursue the matter as Doctors in the Philippines, seemingly adhere to a MAFIA-like code of OMERTA, or silence. To seriously pursue a negligence case, my sister and I would have to import a foreign doctor to testify for and in my sister's behalf.
So today, I sit here stewing, thinking about the lifeless body of my niece, whom I cradled in MMC's morgue. I think about my sister, unable to conceive at the moment, who is now suffering from high blood and mental anguish over what could have been.
This is but one case. Just recently, a family friend was misdiagnosed in St. Medical Center in QC. She was made to undergo unnecessary and painful procedures which have them teetering on bankruptcy. You'll be hearing about this case courtesy of Korina Sanchez soon.
If these shenanigans can happen at MMC and St.MC, where our best and brightest doctors practice, who's to say it doesn't happen elsewhere?
Extremely stupid bill? Doctors should stop looking out for their own self-interests for once and acknowledge reality.
Does everyone know that the only charges which can be brought up against a doctor are slight/serious physical injuries and homicide through reckless imprudence (which is also used in automobile accidents)?
To recount a family experience last February with Dra. M (daughter of a famous ob-gyn - not the brother, who is also an ob-gyn) at MMedical Center.
My sister (33 weeks pregnant) complained of spotting on Feb. 24. As she had been exhibiting signs of high blood during her pre-natal visits during the last 6 weeks, she was rushed to MMC on the same night.
Both she and her baby were hooked on their respective monitors. Around midnight, Dra. M came and personally administered the ultra-sound. She stressed and personally assured my mother and brother-in-law that both my sister and the baby were fine.
Reassured, my mother left at 2 am of Feb. 25.
Come 6 am, my mother calls, sobbing and tells me that the baby was gone and that my sister was now fighting for her life due to blood poisoning.
Abruptio placenta, it seems, occurred UNDETECTED (despite the aforementioned mother & child monitors) sometime at 4 am.
To make a long story short, fortunately my sister survived (despite another incident of negligence involving the MMC blood bank).
I have talked to my batchmateS now practicing at MMC, my wife's oby-gyn & her classmate who is likewise an ob-gyn and my father-in-law (MD). The have all come up with the same conclusion:
MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE
Dutifully, I gathered as much evidence as I could. However, during the course of my "fact-finding", no one, not the nurses, the hospital, nor even my close friends or even my father-in-law was willing to testify or put any observation onto writing.
Most of them advised me not pursue the matter as Doctors in the Philippines, seemingly adhere to a MAFIA-like code of OMERTA, or silence. To seriously pursue a negligence case, my sister and I would have to import a foreign doctor to testify for and in my sister's behalf.
So today, I sit here stewing, thinking about the lifeless body of my niece, whom I cradled in MMC's morgue. I think about my sister, unable to conceive at the moment, who is now suffering from high blood and mental anguish over what could have been.
This is but one case. Just recently, a family friend was misdiagnosed in St. Medical Center in QC. She was made to undergo unnecessary and painful procedures which have them teetering on bankruptcy. You'll be hearing about this case courtesy of Korina Sanchez soon.
If these shenanigans can happen at MMC and St.MC, where our best and brightest doctors practice, who's to say it doesn't happen elsewhere?
Extremely stupid bill? Doctors should stop looking out for their own self-interests for once and acknowledge reality.
Ghost,
I sincerely agree that negligence SHOULD be punished. Negligence not only in the medical field but everywhere else. Why focus on MDs in general? Is this not an example of class legislation (which is thus unconstitutional)?
Also, may I correct your point regarding the best and the brightest allegedly practicing at MMC and SLMC. At MMC, as long as you have enough stocks (or connections and pedigree) YOU CAN PRACTICE THERE sometimes without passing through credentials. There is also an open policy of acceptance at SLMC for visiting and practicing privilege. Also, any bloke with enough cash can set up a clinic at these institutes and darn credentials.
There is a law that covers the practice of medicine in the country (Medical Act of 1959). This law covers the penalties for erring physicians in terms of medical negligence. Negligence MUST be distinguished from complications. Frank Drilon has filed a revision/update of that law during the 13th congress. I feel this bill is more equitable than this persecutory one under debate in the Senate.
I sincerely feel sorry for your relative. However, there seems to be some misunderstanding. The monitors attached to the mother and baby are to monitor heart rate to indirectly measure foetal distress. IT CANNOT DETECT ABRUPTIO PLACENTA. Only ultrasound can detect that. I am not OB and don't know the exact natural history of development of abruptio, but I can tell you it cannot be detected by those monitors attached.
I can go over certain apprehensions you may have, but not in the forum. Perhaps if you PM or email me your details then we can have a more specific discussion. In the meantime, I HAVE gone over the bill and believe me, you will not find a more PERSECUTORY bill ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. You can quote me on that.
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