Forget the economy for now - DEMAND AND SUPPLY

Until we are able to sort out our domestic politics, let us not even talk about the economy. The events over the past few days have aggravated the already risky image we have projected so far as investors are concerned. Because of our political malady, we are also now afflicted with economic leprosy. Expect the peso to take a beating as well, in the meantime.

That’s really a pity. Economic growth is one thing every Filipino needs. Economic growth means jobs for an ever-growing population. Without it, life in these islands is bound to only get more and more hopeless. What we have is a fast shrinking pie and an ever increasing number of claimants to slices. Only economic growth that keeps pace with the region will give us the chance to have a bigger pie to share.

I think President Arroyo has done as much as anyone could in the first 100 days of her administration. Conditions have been less than ideal. On top of the country’s already serious problems, she also had to consolidate her political and military support.

I guess, we need to go through this mess to teach us some lessons and unmask the political opportunists in our midst. Actually, I had very low confidence in the proposition that we have what it takes to punish a plundering former leader. This is why I was all for letting him go as far away as possible from this country. We will worry about his alleged loot later. More important for the republic, is the opportunity for GMA to more easily consolidate and run this country as it should be run.

Well, that’s the pragmatist in me. But those of the so-called "civil society" were of the opinion that Erap shouldn’t be allowed to go scot free so as to provide a lesson to future leaders. That is not a bad idea, if we can carry it out. Maybe, we can. But what if we fumble? The events of the past few days seem to indicate a significant element of doubt. The last thing we need is another political upheaval so soon after the last one.

This is why political leaders like Enrile, Lacson, Miriam and Maceda who seem to be inciting the masa at this time are doing the nation a great disservice. Based on what I heard them say in their speeches before the EDSA crowd, it is easy to believe that they were behind a barefaced attempt to put the personal political interests of an elite group within the Estrada camp above that of the nation.

The thing to do is to let the judicial process work. Let the Sandiganbayan do its work as fast as it could. Let the electoral process work too. It’s just two more weeks before the election. Now that everyone has ventilated their feelings, it is time to wait for election day and just cast our votes.

In the meantime, we might as well forget the economy. It just isn’t going to go anywhere until we fix up the political mess we are in. A 13-0 is a good place to start.

Medical malpractice

I caught last Friday’s edition of Kat Legarda’s show on ANC and it had a most interesting topic: medical malpractice. I got the impression, from what one of the doctor guests said, that there is no such thing as medical malpractice. A patient just got unlucky.

But that’s not the worse part. The same guest said that the reason local doctors don’t testify against another local doctor is because the Hippocratic oath requires them to treat colleagues with due respect.

Really, now? Does the Hippocratic oath require doctors to cover up for a colleague who clearly goofed? Kawawa naman ang madlang pipol pag ganyan.

I come from a family of doctors and I never heard that one before. What my father cynically told me one time I raised the question was that the local medical profession is one big fraternity, much like the mistahs in the military academy. If you were a victim, you’d think it was a conspiracy.

I wonder how the father of someone I know felt after he confirmed that a close friend misdiagnosed his daughter’s breast cancer, not once but over three years, as something "not to be worried about." Luckily for this girl, they caught it in the nick of time in Stanford. She was lucky that her father is a surgeon and knew enough to get her to Stanford for another opinion. What of us who can’t afford to go to Stanford or whose father isn’t a surgeon who understands these things?

Hippocratic oath notwithstanding, why can’t they put up internal audits that will look into obvious malpractice cases so that remedial measures can be instituted. I mean, like when there was an epidemic of post surgical infection cases in a prominent medical center, surely something’s amiss. I am sure even Hippocrates wouldn’t mind looking into what went wrong here.

Interestingly, I got an e-mail from a reader who is a practicing physician who was worried about the deteriorating quality of local medical care. He asked to remain anonymous for the simple reason that, as I said, it is one big fraternity and he has to live within the system.

Does this mean we all have to get foreign medical insurance now? It seems we just might have to, if the case this doctor related is the norm. This happened in one of the large medical centers whose advertisement we often see in the major newspapers. Here is that story.

Minus details, the case is a middle age man diagnosed with double primary cancer (rectum and lungs). The patient was scheduled for surgery 48 hours after admission. Therein is the premeditation. Even if the diagnosis is correct, there is NO way the pre-op needs could be satisfied within 48 hours. PLUS, the proper therapy of rectal cancer is chemo and/or radiation BEFORE surgery. (This is a first year residency decision.)

We opted to replace the surgeon. The new surgeon canceled the surgery and radiation was first done. Post radiation and pre surgery a re evaluation of the rectal cancer was needed. We opted to do this at another facility where l knew the CT would be really state of the art.

We opted to redo the lungs (the CT of original large hospital is NOT state of the art. We knew this from the hard copy of the scans). In our study, we identified two critical findings (not seen in the original scans), which made the cancer tag HIGHLY UNLIKELY. The surgery was thus limited to the rectum. This not only limits the cost, more importantly –it cuts the surgery by at least two-three hours.

P.S. A chance meeting with doctors from that original hospital – asked them where they go when they get sick –(laughing) they leave the country! The lesson – be wary of doctors and their equipment even in the best institutions. Better still – if you get sick, do what those two doctor-friends told me.

No tradeoff

Erap jokes came back over the weekend. This one is inspired by something Dr. Ernie sent us.

During Erap’s physical examination at Veterans Memorial, the doctors found out the reason for his peculiar way of walking.

"Your gout is getting worse," said one doctor. "I recommend that you give up smoking, drinking and sex for a while."

"WHAT!" Erap protested. "Just so I can walk a little better?"

(Boo Chanco's e-mail address is [email protected])