Doctor told to resign from Tuburan hospital
Dr. Augustus Nizami Reconalla attended to teacher who was given expired insulin
The Provincial Health Office has asked for the resignation of the doctor who attended to a public school teacher, who died in the Tuburan District Hospital allegedly after having been given expired medicine.
Dr. Cynthia Genosolango, PHO head, said Dr. Augustus Nizami Reconalla will have to take responsibility for his actions.
Reconalla, not Dr. Jataporn Vatanagul as erroneously reported in the Nov. 27 issue of this paper, was the attending physician.
“Dr. Tang (Vatanagul) was not even on duty,” a close relative of Dr. Vatanagul told Cebu Daily News.
CDN tried to reach Dr. Vatanagul to get his statement, but all calls to his phone were left unanswered.
Teacher Hezil Relavo Aparecio, 39, died on Nov. 18 on her way to a hospital in Cebu City after having been referred by Dr. Reconalla. (Read : Teacher dies in hospital )
Reconalla admitted that they administered two low doses of insulin to treat the teacher’s blood sugar levels, but found out that the medicine used was way past the expiration date.
“I don’t know if you can call it honesty. But the doctor told the patient’s husband she needed to be brought to the city because the expired insulin had no effect anymore. That’s what he said in front of the family,” said Genosolango.
She asked Reconalla to tender his resignation from the public hospital.
“We’ll just have to own up to our responsibilities. He has to face whichever court he will be sent and give his side with all the honesty he can muster,” Genosolango told reporters yesterday.
The attending nurse, on the other hand, will not be asked to resign.
Although she was the one who gave the dose to the patient, Genosolango said “command responsibility” needed to be observed.
“If I were the attending doctor, I wouldn’t include the nurse in this,” she said.
Like the case of Reconalla, however, she said this does not free the nurse from any liability the patient’s family might come after her for.
Genosolango said Reconalla said he just wanted to help.
Genosolango said it was Reconalla who looked for ways to obtain insulin since the public hospital didn’t have any in its stock.
Diabetes cases are usually referred to big hospitals nearby or hospitals in Cebu City, she said.
Even expired medicines have “allowances” of several months, the chief said. She said that these only lose efficacy, but are not supposed to turn lethal or toxic.
However, she clarified that it is not for her to say anything about the dose that was used on the patient.
Genosolango said she visited the wake of the patient last Sunday.
At the request of the family, Genosolango has advised the pharmacy where the insulin was bought to refrigerate its stocks and place them in plastic to preserve it.
She said that they will seek help from the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) to conduct a toxicology study on the particular dose that was given.
She said the patient already showed manifestations of acidosis due to diabetes and might have died on her way to the city due to organ failure.
When Aparecio was brought to the Tuburan District Hospital on Nov. 17, her blood sugar level was at around 500. She was also said to have been suffering from urinary tract infection.
“An ordinary doctor would know that it is dangerous for a diabetic to have an infection in any part of their body. It can multiply a thousand fold versus a person who is not diabetic,” said Genosolango.
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