Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
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* THIRD DIVISION.
610
611
ABAD, J.:
These cases involve the liability of the surgeon, the
anesthesiologist, and the hospital owner arising from a
botched caesarean section that resulted in the patient
going into a coma.
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1 Now, deceased.
2 Clinical Case Record, Sacred Heart Hospital, Exhibit “J-1” for the
respondent heirs.
3 Anesthesia Record, Sacred Heart Hospital, Exhibit “J-14” for the
respondent heirs.
4 Id.
5 “The birth of a dead baby, the delivery of a fetus that has died before
birth for which there is no possibility of resuscitation.” Retrieved from
http:// www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey
=19817 last April 24, 2012 by MedicineNet, Inc.
6 Operating Room Record, Sacred Heart Hospital, Exhibit “J-15” for the
respondent heirs.
612
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7 The operating team is composed of Dr. Unite as Head Surgeon, Dr.
Teodoro Unite (Petitioner Dr. Unite’s husband) as Assistant Surgeon, and
Dr. J. Reyes as the Anesthesiologist. Exhibit “J-15” for the respondent
heirs.
8 “Bluish discoloration of the skin and mucous membranes due to not
enough oxygen in the blood.” Retrieved from
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=23457 last April
24, 2012 by MedicineNet, Inc.
9 Medical Center Manila, Consultation Sheet written by Dr. Unite.
Exhibit “I-1” for the respondent heirs.
10 Supra note 6; TSN, Vol. 2, July 22, 1993, p. 44.
11 TSN, Vol. 2, May 19, 1992, pp. 10-14.
12 TSN, Vol. 2, December 14, 1992, p. 11.
613
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13 “Anoxic brain damage happens when the brain receives inadequate
oxygen for several minutes or longer. Brain cells begin to die after
approximately four minutes without oxygen.” Retrieved from
http://www.med.nyu.edu/content?ChunkIID=96472 last April 24, 2012 by
NYULangone Medical Center.
14 Supra note 12, at p. 14.
15 Supra note 9.
16 Record of Operation of Medical Center Manila, Exhibit “H” for the
respondent heirs.
17 Docketed as Civil Case 670-M-91.
614
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18 Docketed as CA-G.R. CV 48075.
19 Decision dated November 28, 2002. The subsequent motion for
reconsideration was denied by the CA in its Resolution dated May 27,
2003.
615
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20 Cayao-Lasam v. Ramolete, G.R. No. 159132, December 18, 2008,
574 SCRA 439, 454.
21 Lucas v. Tuaño, G.R. No. 178763, April 21, 2009, 586 SCRA 173,
200.
22 Li v. Spouses Soliman, G.R. No. 165279, June 7, 2011, 651 SCRA
32, 55-56.
616
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23 In Lucas v. Tuaño, supra note 21, at pp. 199-200, the Supreme
Court explains the elements in the following manner: Duty. The physician
has the duty to use at least the same level of care that any other
reasonably competent physician would use to treat the condition under
similar circumstances. Breach & Injury. There is breach of duty of care,
skill and diligence, or the improper performance of such duty, by the
attending physician when the patient is injured in body or in health [and
this] constitutes the actionable malpractice. Proximate cause. The injury
for which recovery is sought must be the legitimate consequence of the
wrong done; the connection between the negligence and the injury must be
a direct and natural sequence of events, unbroken by intervening efficient
causes.
24 Garcia-Rueda v. Pascasio, 344 Phil. 323, 331; 278 SCRA 769, 778
(1997).
25 TSN, Vol. 2, December 14, 1992, pp. 14-17.
617
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26 Id., at pp. 25-28.
27 TSN, Vol. 2, November 12, 1992, pp. 14-15.
28 TSN, Vol. 2, September 16, 1993, p. 21.
29 In People v. Lusabio, Jr., G.R. No. 186119, October 27, 2009, 604
SCRA 565, 584-585, the Court held that “A witness is said to be biased
when his relation to the cause or to the parties is such that he has an
incentive to exaggerate or give false color to his statements, or to suppress
or to pervert the truth, or to state what is false.”
618
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30 TSN, Vol. 2, December 14, 1992, pp. 15-16.
31 Id., at p. 30.
32 TSN, Vol. 2, September 23, 1993, p. 28.
619
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33 Petition in G.R. 158818, p. 17.
34 Daily Time Card, Exhibit “G” and “G-l” for the respondent heirs.
35 “Failure to maintain complete, timely and accurate records can
constitute medical malpractice.” Basics of Philippine Medical
Jurisprudence and Ethics. 2010 ed., Bellosillo, J., Castro, B., Mapili E.,
Rebosa, A. & Rebosa, A., Central Book Supply, Inc., Quezon City.
620
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36 Exhibits “F” to “F-2” for the respondent heirs.
621
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37 G.R. No. 158996, November 14, 2008, 571 SCRA 83, 102.