Doctors claim malpractice law bad for health

Passage of the proposed medical malpractice bill would only encourage quack medicine in the country, the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) warned yesterday.

The physicians also said any malpractice law would accelerate health care cost and undermine patient-doctor relationship.

The PCP, the umbrella of the country’s organizations of specialists in internal medicine, in a manifesto said House Bill 4955 or the malpractice bill maligns and compromises the "art of healing" and would criminalize doctors’ blunders to the level of a hardened criminal.

"Because of the high cost of medicine and reluctance of doctors to treat patients for fear of lawsuits, patients may soon go to quack doctors," Dr. Cecil Tady, PCP president, told reporters during the weekly medical forum at Annabelle’s restaurant in Quezon City.

He was reacting to the question of Bert de Guzman of Balita, who asked if there is a possibility that the passage of the bill would promote Philippine quack medicine.

De Guzman remarked that since the cost of medicine would be high, patients may resort to consulting "albularyos" and faith healers in their localities instead of seeing certified doctors.

Tady said the proposed law has singled out the professional doctors who spent years in school to study, while it is silent on how to deal with quack doctors and faith healers.

"The scope of the malpractice bill must encompass all professions, why single us out?" he asked.

Dr. Abdias Aquino, a prominent neurologist and member of the PCP council of elders, said physicians are also human and so commit mistakes, but they strictly abide by the Hippocratic Oath and code of medical ethics.

"Our concern is to heal not to harm," Aquino said.

He said cases of malpractice are actually accidents beyond the control of attending physicians.

Dr. Ramon Abarquez, past president of the PCP, said the controversial measure was also seen as redundant and confusing because the revised penal code and the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) have been mandated by law to guard against malpractice.

He said the harsh penalties –a maximum fine of P1 million and imprisonment of 12 years –are similar to those applied to hardened criminals whose intention is really to harm when they commit the act.

"The Generic Law encourages alternative cost-effective medicine but the proposed malpractice law discourages physicians’ individualized management options," he said.

Abarquez said statistics at the PRC showed there are only 176 malpractice cases filed against 27,000 practicing doctors all over the country.

"Medical malpractice is very minuscule to affect general well-being and health. Health care delivery will be expensive due to defensive medicine. Personalized, family-oriented, quality and charitable health care will be lost if practitioners will always be cautious or paranoid about potential lawsuit," Abarquez said.