PAO, OSG target 2 dentists for refusing service to HIV patient

MANILA, Philippines — Government litigators are asking the Supreme Court (SC) to reverse a Court of Appeals (CA) ruling that affirmed the dismissal of criminal charges against two dentists who allegedly denied services to a patient with HIV.

In separate petitions, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) and the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) asked the SC to reverse and set aside the CA’s Feb. 9 resolution upholding its 2022 decision that affirmed a Taguig City court’s ruling to dismiss charges filed by prosecutors against dentists Sarah Jane Mugar and Mylene Guevarra-Igrubay.

Taguig Metropolitan Court Branch 116 Judge Richard Pascual granted the dentists’ demurrer to evidence, which effectively dismissed the case against them for violating Section 40 of Republic Act 8504, the Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act, which states, “no person shall be denied health care service or be charged with a higher fee on account of actual, perceived or suspected HIV status.”

Based on court records, the dentists first required the patient to get a clearance from his physician for a tooth extraction when he disclosed he was under medical treatment for HIV in 2017.

When the patient called the clinic to set an appointment for the tooth extraction, the dentists then claimed their facility does not have the “UV type” of desterilization equipment needed to perform the procedure on him.

“Obviously, the excuse given by (the dentists) was hard to believe considering that (clinic) boasts of advanced dental equipment on its own website. (The patient) was even asked to secure a clearance so that an appointment can be made. The reason for the denial was apparent – this is because (the patient) is afflicted with HIV,” the PAO wrote in its petition.

Both the OSG and PAO stressed that the prosecution was able to clearly establish the dentists’ guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

The PAO also asked the SC to declare that the judge “acted with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction,” which they said merits the reversal of his grant of the demurrer to evidence.

The PAO also asked that the case be remanded to the trial court to continue proceedings.

Meanwhile, the OSG sees the case as an opportunity to revisit the legislative intent and interpret discrimination in the healthcare context under the law as “Philippine jurisprudence is currently bereft of precedent relating to RA 8504.”

“Discrimination, in all its forms and subtleties, against individuals with HIV or persons perceived or suspected of having HIV shall be considered inimical to individual and national interest,” the OSG added.