Death in another province hospital: ‘Neglect’ claims another victim

CEBU, Philippines - Another death has been blamed on the alleged negligence of a government-run hospital, this time involving a public school teacher who reportedly died after being administered with expired medicine.

The Provincial Health Office confirmed the death of Hezil Relabo Aparecio, 39, of Barangay 7, Tuburan town, who was admitted to the Tuburan District Hospital last November 17.

However, the PHO has not determined the cause of her death pending investigation.

PHO chief Cynthia Genosolango, who only learned about the incident last Sunday, said that her office is still making inquiries on the matter to come up with complete details of the incident.

She refused to comment further on the allegation that expired medicine caused the death. She, however, said a study will be made on the medicine to determine if it contained contaminants before it was administered to the patient.

“We need an opinion from an expert. But we don’t give medicines, whether oral or injectable, nga expired na,” she told reporters.

According to the Facebook account of “Never Again Cebu”, Aparecio went to the district hospital in the morning of November 17 and was prescribed Metformin, an antidiabetic medication.    But around 2 p.m. that same day, the patient was admitted to the hospital. During her admission, the attending doctor (name withheld pending his side) prescribed her insulin which was available at the pharmacy owned by the same doctor.

When Aparecio’s husband went to the pharmacy, he saw that the insulin, which supposed to be kept refrigerated, was only stored in a box.

The nurse reportedly administered the insulin only to find out later that it was already expired.

“Uy! Na-expired na diay na. Pero sige lang ay lang ka hadlok, wa ni effect,” the site quoted the nurse as saying.

After several hours, the patient reportedly began to experience shortness of breath. The doctor decided to transfer her to a hospital in Cebu City, but she was declared dead on arrival upon reaching the hospital past midnight.

The PHO will also look into the claim of the husband, as posted in the same website, that the pharmacy where the insulin was bought has no business permit, no license to sell and no licensed pharmacist.

Same doctor

The doctor mentioned by the family of the fatality is also blamed for the death of a child at the Minglanilla District Hospital last October 7. Before his reassignment in Minglanilla, he was also tagged in a death of a boy due to “gross negligence” also at another province-run hospital.

The PHO did not issue yet incident report as of this writing. The FREEMAN is withholding his name pending his reaction.

Genosolango said she is also making an inquiry into negligence allegations against the Barili District Hospital over the death of a 23-year-old man who was injured in the left leg after in a vehicular accident. The patient allegedly lost too much blood and died after he was not attended promptly by the medical personnel there.    — /BRP (FREEMAN)