Specialists to examine Binay for lupus

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) will assemble a team of doctors to accommodate the request of Vice President Jejomar Binay that he be examined to dispel rumors that he is sick with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE).

“The PMA, upon the request of our beloved Vice President Binay, is gathering a team of specialists that will examine him in the most appropriate time so that the public will know the real state of health of our dynamic vice president,” said PMA president Dr. Leo Olarte in a statement.

Olarte noted that during his induction at the 106th PMA Annual Convention, Binay “spoke about his rumored condition and my first impression was that he was in high spirits and lacked the usual symptoms of a degenerative disease.”

“However, my personal observation here cannot substitute for a formal and rigorous series of laboratory tests and personal examinations by qualified specialists that we are now forming for this exact purpose,” he added.

Binay welcomed the decision of the PMA.

In a text message, Binay’s spokesman Joey Salgado said the PMA’s medical examination of Binay will stop all the rumors about the vice president’s health.

“We welcome this. We hope this will end all these wild rumors about the vice president having lupus or undergoing dialysis,” Salgado said.

SLE is an autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system becomes hyperactive and attacks normal tissue, leading to inflammation, swelling and damage to joints, skin, kidneys, blood, the heart and lungs.

It is the same disease that the late President Ferdinand Marcos was said to have suffered from. – Sheila Crisostomo Jose Rodel Clapano