Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center Staff In Hot Water

A very good friend emailed me this very chunky piece of nursing-related news from Inquirer.net:

Six doctors and several nurses and staff of a government-run hospital here were being investigated after they were linked to video footage of a surgical team apparently making fun of a patient during operation.

The video was uploaded to YouTube and circulated through mobile phones.

The video, taken last January 3, was of a male patient who was undergoing an operation at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) to take out a perfume canister that had been inserted into his rectum by a male sex partner on New Year's Eve.

The video ran for at least two minutes and 28 seconds and showed how the operating team of more than 10 people extracted the canned body spray from the patient's rectum as some laughed and cheered when the "baby" was pulled out. The video is no longer available on YouTube.

VSMMC spokesperson Dr. Emmanuel Gines said the hospital created a team, composed of doctors and administrative officers, to conduct an investigation.

Gines, however, refused to identify the members of the investigation team and the medical staff under investigation.

He added that the results of the investigation would come out late this week or early next week and the team's recommendations would be subject to the approval of VSMMC medical director Gerardo Aquino.

Gines said the hospital also forwarded the case to the Cebu Medical Society.

The medical staff involved in the incident continue to report for duty, according to Gines.

Gines also apologized to the patient but the patient has decided to file a complaint against the medical staff.

Dave Tumulak, village chairman of Basak Pardo in Cebu City, said the patient would file criminal and administrative charges for violation of several provisions of the Patients Bill of Rights against those involved in the January 3 surgery.

Tumulak, who is assisting the patient, explained that the patient had been badly affected and has seldom left his house since many people in the village knew of the incident.

He said the patient would also sue the VSMMC medical director.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer tried calling Aquino's cell phone but he was not answering calls.

Tumulak said the patient hired the services of lawyer Guiller Ceniza to assist him in the preparation of charges.

However, he said, they had yet to identify the persons involved in the taking of the footage since the hospital management refused to cite names.

Tumulak urged the VSMMC management to open their records of the operation conducted January 3 so they could get the names of those involved.

Meanwhile, Gines acknowledged the need to strengthen hospital policies on the use of mobile phones with or without cameras inside the operating room and other areas of the hospital.

C'mon, guys. Don't be too harsh on these doctors and nurses. They were just having too much of a good time, perhaps merely horsing around while performing a surgical procedure. What's wrong with violating the patient's right to privacy and confidentiality if your ultimate goal is to produce another YouTube phenomenon? If the Dancing Inmates of Cebu made it to the Time Magazine's 10 Most Watched Internet Videos for 2007, why can't they for this year?

Surely, these fun-loving doctors and nurses do not deserve our baseless criticisms. As patient advocates, they deserve more than that. What each of these guys deserve is a hug canister of hair spray shoved up their @ss!

Geez, what were they thinking?