[Adm-02] JUST IN! Rep. Lawrence Lemuel H. Fortun (First District, Agusan del Norte) filed House Resolution No. 1379 directing an investigation on the reported failure of DOH to strictly implement, monitor and ensure compliance by Hospitals of RA 8344, or the act prohibiting hospitals from refusing to administer appropriate initial medical treatment, and forbidding any hospital officer to request, solicit, demand or accept any deposit or any other form of advance payment as a prerequisite for confinement or medical treatment. Section 1 of RA 8344 reads: In emergency or serious cases, it shall be unlawful for any proprietor, president, director, manager or any other officer, and/or medical practitioner or employee of a hospital or medical clinic to request, solicit, demand or accept any deposit or any other form of advance payment as a prerequisite for confinement or medical treatment of a patient in such hospital or medical clinic or to refuse to administer medical treatment and support as dictated by good practice of medicine to prevent death or permanent disability... Since last week, netizens volunteered sentiments over post on Facebook of a certain Tutz Salarda-Chan and she shared grief with the passing of her daughter Yanna. Story of Yanna spread like a wildfire as both national and local dailies started to catch her sad fate. Jannary Yanna Chan, a critically-ill 10 year old child, succumbed to a heart ailment in the early hours July 16, 2014, after Butuan Doctors Hospital in Butuan City reportedly denied her admission for medical treatment due to insufficient money to pay for the hospitals pre-admission required deposit of P30,000.00. Yanna accompanied by her mother, came all the way from San Francisco Doctors Hospital on board an ambulance with complete medical certificate and referral documents. Despite the presentation of said documents, the critical situation of the child and the entreaty of the parents, hospital personnel refused admission, forcing the family to look for another hospital in Davao City - that required another few hours of travel and on their way thereto, the child perished. Prior to this incident involving the death of Yanna Chan, there have been earlier accounts and reports of hospital and medical clinics rejecting or refusing to administer medical treatment and support on account of their inability to pay the required deposit or downpayment, Fortun in his explanatory note. Parallel to filing of HR 1379, the solon also wrote the DOH Caraga to immediately conduct an inquiry on the alleged refusal of Butuan Doctors Hospital to admit Yanna. In his letter, Fortun aptly wrote: I respectfully urge you to act on this concern with haste and urgency as part of the mandate of the Department to monitor and enforce the provisions of the law (RA 8344).
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 05:25:40 +0000