Napoles to undergo biopsy

Bea Cupin

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Napoles to undergo biopsy
Before she can move on to other procedures, her doctors say Janet Lim Napoles needs to undergo a biopsy first

MANILA, Philippines – Alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles will have to undergo a biopsy prior to any other kind of medical procedure, doctors at the Ospital ng Makati said Monday, April 7.

Dr. Perry Peralta, Ospital ng Makati (Makati Hospital) director said in a press briefing that Napoles has been cleared for a biopsy today, April 7.

“The biopsy will take some time. It takes 24 hours to set the tissue and a few hours more to do tissue cutting and then babasahin pa ‘yan [then we’ll interpret the results],” Peralta said.

The biopsy, said Peralta, is crucial so doctors can determine the extent of the surgery Napoles needs. Should the mass in her uterus turn out of be malignant or cancerous, the surgery would be “more extensive.”

Napoles was transferred to the Ospital ng Makati from her detention center in Laguna on March 31. Napoles is currently detained for the alleged serious illegal detention of former aide turned whistleblower Benhur Luy.

In late March, the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 granted Napoles’ motion for surgery and hospital confinement, but allowed her to go to the Ospital ng Makati instead of the St. Luke’s Medical Center. (READ: Why it’s St. Luke’s or bust for Napoles)

On the last hearing day, a tearful Napoles begged the court to grant her petition, saying she had already suffered a lot. 

Earlier, Napoles complained of “hypoglycemia, drastic weight loss, chest pains, severe abdominal pains, and profuse menstrual bleeding.” Earlier tests taken at the Southern Luzon Medical Center showed a mass in her ovary. Tests at the Camp Crame General Hospital, meanwhile, showed a myoma in her uterus.

NAPOLES' LAWYERS. Dr. Elsie Badillo-Pascua (leftmost) and Dr. Michael Lim-Villa (middle) testify at the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150. File photo by Rappler

A week since she was moved to the Ospital ng Makati, Napoles has yet to undergo surgery. But Peralta denied procedures were taking longer than planned.

“We are still on track but as I mentioned before, the 26 days, moving target lang yan [it’s just a moving target]. We’re still on track,” he said.

Napoles is currently being attended to by her private doctors from the St. Luke’s Medical Center. Peralta and Ospital ng Makati ob-gyn Dr. Florentina Villanueva said the two teams of doctors were working “fine” and that they were in “constant communication.”

“We are in total agreement. We actually agreed on all the procedures that need to be done,” she said. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!
Avatar photo

author

Bea Cupin

Bea is a senior multimedia reporter who covers national politics. She's been a journalist since 2011 and has written about Congress, the national police, and the Liberal Party for Rappler.