THE Mandaue City legal office will ask the opinion of the Cebu Medical Society (CMS) on the fact-finding report of the Department of Health which looked into the Jan. 2 death of Jocelyn Coliflores, a walk-in patient at the Mandaue City Hospital.
The DOH report recommended the filing of a formal charge for medical malpractice with the Profesional Regulation Commission (PRC) and administrative charges by the city government against personnel involved.
But the same report said the medicines given to the patient were tolerable and in acceptable doses.
Giovanni Tianero, legal officer of Mandaue City told Cebu Daily News their findings coincide with DOH-7’s, but they are still looking for evidence of malpractice.
“If we only rely on DOH-7’s findings, there is no fault on the side of the hospital. We need other medical experts regarding the matter.”
“There will be due process followed of course and there must be sufficient basis for administrative complaints,” he added.
The DOH report did not specify any major wrongdoing or single out any personnel.
It said the city hospital complied with the DOH standards on personnel, physical facilities, equipment and instruments, service delivery, and other aspects.
Cesar, the husband of Jocelyn told CDN yesterday that he would submit the DOH findings and recommendations to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI-7) next week.
His lawyer Inocencio dela Cerna said they will gather findings of the DOH-7, the NBI-7’s and the Mandaue City legal office to support the filing criminal, administrative and civil charges.
The DOH-7 also recommended a re-autopsy of Coliflores, who was earlier found to have died of cardiac arres in a police autopsy which differed from the hospital’s death certificate which stated that Jocelyn died of “probably ruptured cerebral aneurysm.”
The DOH recommended some changes in procedure to improve medical services such as requiring results of laboratory tests of the patient at the emergency room prior to admission and to strictly observe the four-hour standard waiting time for patients at the ER.