Stab victim dies after hospital refuses to give treatment

A man who had stabbed by three unidentified men as he was having a snack at a roadside eatery died after he was refused admission at a hospital in Valenzuela City.

The victim had nothing on his person by which he could be identified. The police described him to be about 20 to 25 years old, 5’7” tall and of medium build. He was wearing a pink shirt and a pair of shorts with a floral design.

The victim, who sustained a lone stab wound in the chest, was brought to the hospital by tricycle driver Marcial Camanague, 62, a resident of Clemente Compound in Barangay Gen. T. de Leon.

Senior Police Officer 2 Angeles Miranda reported that the victim was eating with four male companions at the Binjo’s Foodhouse in Barangay Marulas at 2:45 a.m. yesterday when the three suspects arrived and attacked him.

Camanague said three men flagged him down at the corner of Tamaraw and Deato streets. Two men sat the victim inside his tricycle without telling him that the man had been stabbed.

Thinking that the victim was drunk, Camanague drove off. A few moments later, he noticed blood trickling down the victim’s legs, prompting him to rush to the Fatima Medical Center.

Camanague told investigators that emergency room personnel refused to admit the victim because he had no relatives.

He then took the dying man to the Valenzuela General Hospital, about two kilometers away, where the attending physician declared him dead on arrival.

Health Undersecretary Alex Padilla said hospitals violate the law if they refuse to admit emergency cases. He said hospitals cannot refuse admission to patients in emergency cases who cannot make a deposit or do not have relatives with them.

Padilla said hospitals should stabilize patients in an emergency case before they transfer them to another institution.  – Jerry Botial, Sheila Crisostomo