Doctor-patient consultation

SYMPTOMS: Pain, anxiety and possible hypertension among medical practitioners

CAUSES: BIR’s print and TV ads showing a doctor piggybacked on a teacher

INITIAL DIAGNOSES (EXCERPTS):

“We at the Philippine Medical Association (PMA), as productive members of the Filipino society, have been working hand in hand with the BIR towards the achievement of this goal. The newspaper advertisement came as a surprise to us.

… Some government doctors earn a little over 20,000 pesos a month. This is one of the reasons there is an overwhelming migration of doctors to other countries…

We would also appreciate it if she (Commissioner Kim Henares) can temper BIR’s public relation spinmiesters to practice their trade fairly by refraining from engaging in tactics that can be viewed as irritants and divisive to both our organization’s common goals in nation building.”

DR. LEO OLARTE

President of PMA

“Medical practitioners… are gravely concerned with the shame campaign being conducted …We object to the sweeping, unfair and derogatory depiction of physicians, in those ads, as tax cheats.

There may be a few tax evaders in our ranks, but why paint in a bad light all doctors and the entire profession?…

New BIR policies mandate hospitals to collect the standard professional fees directly from patients’ payments – that is, 15 percent plus 10-20 percent VAT – before they are released to the physicians…In the US, I paid only 10 percent …and I got refunds; here, it’s 15 percent, yet I haven’t received any refund.

…BIR is pulling out of bed innocent people and executing them on trumped-up charges; the cruel nightmare this promises is the slow, systematic, consistent taking away of our rights…

…the best tax collectors are those with ‘Shylock’ personalities, obsessed with the joy of biting and collecting the “pound of flesh… Does Henares belong to this tribe?..”

SANTIAGO A. DEL ROSARIO, MD

Former PMA President

PATIENT TESTIMONIES:

“I usually use my health card for consultations and procedures. The dentists automatically issue receipts even if they’re not accredited by my insurer.

But those doctors not accredited, don’t issue official receipts. They say, ‘If you want a receipt, you’d have to pay more.’  I’ve experienced this in Makati Med.

In the province, it’s the same thing. I know of relatives and friends paying surgeons in cash. And no receipts are issued.”

CARLO

The only time there’s a record of doctors’ fees is when the professional fee is included in the hospital charges when a patient is discharged…

When my mom was being discharged, the doctor’s fee had to be paid directly at his office. The secretary said that if a receipt is required, there will be a 12% VAT. Who would want to pay 12% more, after being burdened with a huge hospital bill?  But as no receipts are issued, doctors are able to avoid the income tax.

I have consulted at St Luke’s, Asian Hospital, Makati Medical, Medical City, Medical Center Manila, for procedures like ureterolithotomy, tonsillectomy, diabetes and hypertension. No doctor has ever issued me a receipt…

Given the current debate about the BIR ads, the doctors feel that they are attacked as a group. Only doctors who do not pay the right taxes are being addressed…

LITO

SECOND OPINION:

“On the BIR ad yesterday. Pag ikaw galit, baka guilty ka! Many doctors need to change their ways, always issue receipts and pay correct taxes. Contribute to nation building!”

DR. TED HERBOSA

“If a patient’s trust was eroded that easily, then maybe there wasn’t much trust to start with…

My suggestion is let’s trust the facts. Accept that it’s not universal (tax evasion), but accept that it’s a big problem. We have nothing to gain by whining, and everything to gain by getting together and doing something about it.”

DR. ANTONIO DANS

“In response to the ad, I am ashamed that there are doctors who don’t pay their taxes correctly. I am ashamed that the BIR had to go to this extent just to make them pay up. I am ashamed that we refuse to see how prevalent the problem is among ourselves.

I am ashamed that it is this same sense of impunity that grants consultants the power to do as they wish, the same impunity that gives some doctors the gall to prescribe (and even sell!) unproven medications and untested herbal remedies. I am ashamed that during conferences, out of deference to seniority and delicadeza, errors in management aren’t pointed out because that is what we do ‘in my practice.’

I am ashamed at the self-centeredness, the self-glorification of many in this profession. If sacrifices really were sacrifices, you should NOT expect anything in return. We should NOT expect exemptions in law, including getting out of a traffic violation just because we have an MD car emblem.

I am ashamed at the corruption in the profession, doctors blinded by the irresistible offer of pens, luncheons, and vacations. Yes my friends, some doctors and training institutions even DEMAND these things from the pharmaceutical industry.

I am ashamed that we are afraid of losing our patients’ trust, and that this ad will cause some to leave the country. As Tony Dans said: “…If that colleague’s love of country was so easily lost… then there wasn’t much love to start with either.”

All in all, the past week has opened my eyes even more to who we are as a profession.

If change starts from within, then there’s a mountain of work ahead of us.”

DR. ADRIAN PARL RABE

PRESCRIPTION: For those who experienced symptoms, take two aspirins. Examine your conscience to diagnose what really touched a nerve. Refresh your memory on the Hippocratic oath as often as needed. – Rappler.com