DOH clears Cebu hospital, not the doctors, in baby’s death

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) in Central Visayas (Region VII) has cleared a government hospital – the St Anthony Mother and Child Hospital – of medical negligence over the death of an 8-month-old baby on June 7.

Based on the initial results of an investigation, Dr Jaime Bernadas, DOH-VII regional director, on Tuesday, June 23, cleared the St Anthony Mother and Child Hospital (SAMCH) of any liabilities over the death of Harry Morgan Visaya, who died of an extreme dehydration from diarrhea.

However, Bernadas said the doctors accused in the same case were not yet cleared of liabilities.

“We have not touched on that aspect yet,” said the regional director. He said that the individual actions of the doctors concerned will be tackled in another phase of the investigation. Results of this may be available Tuesday next week, June 30.

The parents of the boy earlier filed criminal complaints against 4 doctors.

While the ad hoc committee created by the DOH-Region VII cleared SAMCH, it had not cleared the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Hospital (VSMMC).

VSMMC was where the baby was transferred from SAMCH before he died.

The Visaya family is not complaining against VSMMC, however, because it was allegedly at SAMCH that the baby’s condition worsened due to neglect.

“We will still investigate them (VSMMC) because the baby was under their care for 10 hours before [he expired],” Bernadas told reporters.

SAMCH, a secondary level hospital, and VSMMC, a tertiary category facility, are both government-owned and are under the supervision of the DOH.

The investigation team is headed by Dr. Sophia Mancao, chief of hospital licensing at DOH-VII. Bernadas said he had formed the fact-finding committee even before the family of the baby submitted a complaint to his office.

Barnadas said that while the DOH continues to investigate the individual doctors addressed in the family’s complaint, the family can also file complaints against the same physicians before the Professional Regulations Commisson .

Why SAMCH was cleared 

Mancao said that SAMCH did not commit lapses in procedures when the infant was under their care. She said that when the intravenous (IV) fluid was dislodged several times, the doctors asked the parents or the guardians for consent to conduct another procedure on the baby, but they refused.

Mancao dismissed the claim of the parents that the hospital did not have ample light in administering the IV fluid. She said that the hospital had several goose neck lamps that can be used to aid the doctors and nurses in the administration of the IV fluid too.

“The watcher (guardian) at that time did not give consent in the morning of June 6 when the physician asked intra-raucous procedure. She was denied,” Mancao added.

Intra-raucous procedure, according to Mancao, is a painful procedure where the fluid is directly inserted into the bones.

The DOH also found out that the transfer to a higher category hospital was not because of an emergency case but a request of the parents. Bernadas said that the doctor did not transfer them to a private hospital because one of the parents told them that they did not have money for deposit. – Rappler.com