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Doctors or physicians are experts, who, because of their training and the very nature of
their work, are required to exercise utmost diligence in the performance of their tasks. (Torts
and Damages, Timoteo B. Aquino) However, proving medical malpractice in the Philippines is
one of the more difficult civil cases. Its difficulty lies, among others, on the fact that medical
procedures involve, to a great degree, technical matters, which must be clearly understood
first, prior to pursuing a claim that a treatment was attended with malpractice.
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The rights and obligations of physicians, and the law that governs the relationship between
doctors and patients are covered by the Medical Act of 1959 (R.A. No. 2382) which provides,
among others, the standardization and regulation of medical education; the examination for
registration of physicians; and the supervision, control, and regulation of the practice of
medicine in the Philippines. Under the Medical Act, gross negligence, ignorance, or
incompetence in the practice of medicine resulting in an injury to or death of the patient shall
be sufficient ground to suspend or revoke the certificate of registration of any physician.
However, R.A. 2382 has no provision imposing civil or criminal penalty for acts constituting
gross negligence, ignorance, or incompetence. Nonetheless, a patient who dies or suffers injury
because of the attendance of any of these circumstances when a physician attends to him/her
may be prosecuted under Article 365 of the Revised Penal Code or seek an award of damages
under the Civil Code such as an action based on quasi-delict.
A. CRIMINAL LIABILITY
"Doctors are protected by a special law. They are not guarantors of care. They do not
even warrant a good result. They are not insurers against mishap or unusual
consequences. Furthermore they are not liable for honest mistake of judgment.” (Cruz versus
Court of Appeals, 282 SCRA 188 [1997])
Criminal liability for medical negligence may be, however, brought under Article 365 of
the Revised Penal Code (criminal imprudence and negligence). The elements of reckless
imprudence are:
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injuries involved in malpractice actions are determinable only in the light of scientific
knowledge, it has been recognized that expert testimony is usually necessary to support the
conclusion as to causation.”
“Inexcusable lack of precaution” is defined as “whether or not a physician has committed
an ‘inexcusable lack of precaution’ in the treatment of his [or her] patient is to be determined
according to the standard of case observed by other members of the profession in good
standing under similar circumstances bearing in mind another the advance state of the
profession at the time of treatment or the present state of medical science.” In cases where the
negligence is not reckless in nature, the doctor may be held liable instead for simple
imprudence. However, the negligence exhibited by the two doctors does not approximate
negligence of a reckless nature but merely amounts to simple imprudence. Simple imprudence
consists in the lack of precaution displayed in those cases in which the damage impending to be
caused is not the immediate nor the danger clearly manifest. The elements of simple
imprudence are as follows.
In litigations involving medical negligence, the plaintiff has the burden of establishing
accused-appellants negligence, and for a reasonable conclusion of negligence, there must be
proof of breach of duty on the part of the physician as well as a causal connection of such
breach and the resulting injury of his patient. The connection between the negligence and the
injury must be a direct and natural sequence of events, unbroken by intervening efficient
causes. In other words, the negligence must be the proximate cause of the injury. Negligence,
no matter in what it consists, cannot create a right of action unless it is the proximate cause of
the injury complained of. The proximate cause of an injury is that cause which, in natural and
continuous sequence, unbroken by any efficient intervening cause, produces the injury and
without which the result would not have occurred. (Jarcia, Jr. v. People, 666 SCRA 336 (2012)
B. CIVIL LIABILITY
The injured party may hold the physician liable for damages based on tort, called quasi-
delicts under Article 2176 of the New Civil Code. In general, negligence suits require proof that
a party failed to observe, for the protection of the interest of another person, that degree of
care, precaution, and vigilance which the circumstances justly demand, whereby such other
person suffers injury. It is the omission to do something which a reasonable man, guided by
those considerations which ordinarily regulate the conduct of human affairs, would do, or the
doing of something which a prudent and reasonable man would not do. (Layugan vs.
Intermediate Appellate Court, citing Black’s Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition, 930).
The Supreme Court had occasion to explain that doctors, because of their training and the
very nature of their work, doctors or physicians are required to exercise utmost diligence in the
performance of their tasks, to wit:
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Throughout history, patients have consigned their fates and lives to the
skill of their doctors. For a breach of this trust, men have been quick to demand
retribution. Some 4,000 years ago, the Code of Hammurabi then already
provided: “If a physician make a deep incision upon a man with his bronze lancet
and cause the man’s death, or operate on the eye socket of a man with his
bronze lancet and destroy the man’s eyes, they shall cut off his hand.”
Subsequently, Hippocrates wrote what was to become part of the healer’s oath:
“I will follow that method of treatment which according to my ability and
judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is
deleterious and mischievous. . . . While I continue to keep this oath unviolated
may it be granted me to enjoy life and practice the art, respected by all men at all
times but should I trespass and violate this oath, may the reverse be my lot.” At
present, the primary objective of the medical profession is the preservation of life
and maintenance of the health of the people.
Needless to say then, when a physician strays from his sacred duty and
endangers instead the life of his patient, he must be made to answer therefor.
Although society today cannot and will not tolerate the punishment meted out by
the ancients, neither will it and this Court, as this case would show, let the act go
uncondemned.
xxx xxx
As a final word, this Court reiterates its recognition of the vital role the
medical profession plays in the lives of the people, and the State’s compelling
interest to enact measures to protect the public from “the potentially deadly
effects of incompetence and ignorance in those who would undertake to treat
our bodies and minds for disease or trauma.” Indeed, a physician is bound to
serve the interest of his patients “with the greatest of solicitude, giving them
always his best talent and skill.” Through her tortious conduct, the petitioner
endangered the life of Flotilde Villegas, in violation of her profession’s rigid
ethical code and in contravention of the legal standards set forth for
professionals, in general, and members of the medical profession, in particular.”
(Dr. Victoria L. Batiquin and Allan Batiquin vs. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 118231,
05 July 1996.)
When the evidence show the presence of negligence, such as when a doctor, hospital or
medical professional failed to perform the necessary medical services on a patient according to
the degree of skill required from an ordinary practitioner of their respective professions, then a
cause of action arising from negligence or quasi-delict exists. However, being a distinct type of
tort, the Supreme Court stated that, to prove medical malpractice or medical negligence, four
(4) elements have to be established, to wit:
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“A word on medical malpractice or negligence cases.
In its simplest terms, the type of lawsuit which has been called medical
malpractice or, more appropriately, medical negligence, is that type of claim
which a victim has available to him or her to redress a wrong committed by a
medical professional which has caused bodily harm. In order to successfully
pursue such a claim, a patient must prove that a health care provider, in most
cases a physician, either failed to do something which a reasonably prudent
health care provider would have done, or that he or she did something that a
reasonably prudent provider would not have done; and that that failure or action
caused injury to the patient. Hence, there are four elements involved in medical
negligence cases: duty, breach, injury and proximate causation.
Evidently, when the victim employed the services of Dr. Antonio and Dr.
Reyes, a physician-patient relationship was created. In accepting the case, Dr.
Antonio and Dr. Reyes in effect represented that, having the needed training and
skill possessed by physicians and surgeons practicing in the same field, they will
employ such training, care and skill in the treatment of their patients. They have
a duty to use at least the same level of care that any other reasonably competent
doctor would use to treat a condition under the same circumstances. The breach
of these professional duties of skill and care, or their improper performance, by a
physician surgeon whereby the patient is injured in body or in health, constitutes
actionable malpractice. Consequently, in the event that any injury results to the
patient from want of due care or skill during the operation, the surgeons may be
held answerable in damages for negligence.
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medical history of a person before they decide on taking him/her as a patient.
This process is necessary so that the doctor can gauge whether he/she is capable
of successfully helping the patient and also for the doctor to make the proper
preparations and decisions with respect to how to treat said patient.
Section 2. A physician is free to choose whom he will serve. He may refuse calls,
or other medical services for reasons satisfactory to his professional conscience.
He should, however, always respond to any request for his assistance in an
emergency. Once he undertakes a case, he should not abandon nor neglect it. If
for any reason he wants to be released from it, he should announce his desire
previously, giving sufficient time or opportunity to the patient or his family to
secure another medical attendant.
The presence of the third element arises where injury, liability or even
death arises as a consequence of a negligent medical treatment or procedure.
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of the treatment. Also, countless environmental variable play a direct hand in
the effectiveness of a treatment.
STANDARD OF CARE:
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medical Jurisprudence, 19988 Ed.) A “specialist” on the other hand, duty to the
patient is generally considered to be that of an average specialist, not that of a
average physician.
In Spouses Flores v. Spouses Pineda, a doctor was made liable for the
death of the patient that resulted when the doctor decided to proceed with the
"D & C" procedure despite the patient's hyperglycemia and without adequately
preparing the patient.
In Dr. Emmanuel Jarcia, Jr. and Dr. Marilou Bastan v. People, two doctors
in the Emergency Room failed to conduct a thorough examination of the victim
of a vehicular accident. The doctors failed to detect the fractures in the bone
that caused fever, swelling of the right leg and misalignment of the right foot.
The doctors made baseless assurances that everything was all right thereby
depriving the victim of "adequate medical attention that placed him in a more
dangerous situation than he was already in."
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dentist who failed to install the erect size of screws causing the sufferings of the
patient; one of the screw struck the molar of the patient.
On the other hand, "a specialist's legal duty to the patient is generally
considered to be that of an average specialist, not that of an average physician. A
physician who holds himself out as having special knowledge and skill in the
treatment of a particular organ or disease or injury is required to bring to the
discharge of his duty to a patient employing him as such as a specialist, not
merely that of an average degree of skill possessed by general practitioners but
that special degree of skill and care which physicians, similarly situated who
devote special study and attention to the treatment of such organ, disease or
injury ordinarily possess, regard being in the state of scientific knowledge at the
time."
NATIONAL STANDARDS.
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LOCALITY RULE IN RELATION TO FACILITIES.
NEIGHBORHOOD RULE
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under the New Civil Code. In common law, neighborhood connotes proximity.
Lord Atkin in Donoghue U. Stevenson made the classic announcement of the
neighborhood rule where he opined that there must be some general
conception of relations giving rise to a duty of care. He explained:
NEGLIGENCE OF RESIDENTS
ERROR OF JUDGMENT.
Error on the part of the doctor does not necessarily result in the finding
of negligence. Whether an error of judgment is negligent or not depends on the
nature of the error. "If it is one that would not have been made a reasonably
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competent professional man professing to have the standard and type of skill
that the defendant held himself out as having, and acting with ordinary care,
then it is negligent. If, on the other hand, it is an error that a man, with ordinary
care, might have made, then it is not negligence."
EXPERT TESTIMONY.
A doctor is duty-bound to use at least the same level of care that any
reasonably competent doctor would use to treat a condition under the same
circumstances. The breach of these professional duties of skill and care, or their
improper performance by a physician surgeon, whereby the patient is injured in
body or in health constitutes actionable malpractice. As to this aspect of medical
malpractice, the determination of the reasonable level of care and the breach
thereof, expert testimony is essential. Further, inasmuch as the causes of the
injuries involved in malpractice actions are determinable only in the light of
scientific knowledge, it has been recognized that expert testimony is usually
necessary to support the conclusion as to causation.
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defendants; and (3) The possibility of contributing conduct which would make
the plaintiff responsible is eliminated.
Unless excused, the doctor must secure the consent of his patient to a
particular treatment or an investigative procedure. Consent is an integral part of
the physician-patient relationship and doctors are duty bound to obtain an
authorization for care carried out in their offices or elsewhere. However, consent
of the patient may be express or implied.
"A physician is under a duty to treat his patient skillfully but proficiency in
diagnosis and therapy is not the full measure of his responsibility The cases
demonstrate that the physician is under an obligation to communicate specific
information to the patient when the exigencies of reasonable care call for it. Due
care may require a physician perceiving symptoms of bodily abnormality to alert
the patient to the condition. It may call upon the physician confronting an
ailment which does not respond to his ministrations to inform the patient
thereof. It may command the physician to instruct the patient as to any
limitations to be presently observed for his own welfare, and as to any
precautionary therapy he should seek in the future. It may oblige the physician
to advise the patient of the need for or desirable. ity of any alternative
treatment promising greater benefit than that being pursued. Just as plainly, due
care normally demands that the physician warn the patient of any risks to his
well-being which contemplated therapy may involve.
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undertaken. To the physician, whose training enables a self satisfying evaluation,
the answer may seem clear, but it is the prerogative of the patient, not the
physician, to determine for himself the direction in which his interests seem to
lie. To enable the patient to chart his course understandably, some familiarity
with the therapeutic alternatives and their hazards becomes essential.
"The negligence theory of consent puts the patient and the health
practitioner on a more even footing that they were previously, particularly when
inadequate disclosure of information is concerned." The existence of the
negligence theory reinforces the need for greater diligence on the part of health
personnel in providing pa ents with information relevant to their health care." In
Dr. Rubi Li v. Spouses Soliman, the Supreme Court the Supreme Court explained
the nature and history of the doctrine of informed consent as follows:
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exercise his judgment by reasonably balancing the probable risks against the
probable benefits.
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therefore for determining whether a potential peril must be divulged is its
materiality to the patient's decision.
Elements of Liability:
Scope of Duty:
This is especially true if the doctor is the head of the surgical team, the
so-called captain of the ship, because as such he has the responsibility to see to
it that those under him perform the task in the proper manner. Under the
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"Captain of the Ship" Doctrine, the surgeon is likened to a ship captain who must
not only be responsible for the safety of the crew but also of the passengers of
the vessel. The head surgeon is made responsible for everything that goes wrong
within the four corners of the operating room. It enunciates the liability of the
surgeon not only for the wrongful acts of those who are under his physical
control but also those wherein he has extension of control.
LIABILITY OF HOSPITALS.
Note that the hospital may not escape liability by the mere fact that the
patient used of health care plan or card. The only effect of the availment of the
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patient's card benefits is that the choice of physician is limited only to physicians
who are accredited with the health card provided. Thus, the patient's use of
health care plan in this case only limited the choice of doctors (or coverage of
services, amount etc.) and not the liability of doctors or the hospital.
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the right to terminate consultants all fulfill the important hallmarks of an
employer-employee relationship, with the exception of the payment of wages. In
assessing whether such a relationship in fact exists, the control test is
determining. Accordingly, on the basis of the foregoing, we rule that for the
purpose of allocating responsibility in medical negligence cases, an employer-
employee relationship in effect exists between hospitals and their attending and
visiting physicians. This being the case, the question now arises as to whether or
not respondent hospital is solidarily liable with respondent doctors for
petitioners condition.
The basis for holding an employer solidarily responsible for the negligence of
its employee is found in Article 2180 of the Civil Code which considers a person
accountable not only for his own acts but also for those of others based on the
formers responsibility under a relationship of patria potestas.[77] Such
responsibility ceases when the persons or entity concerned prove that they have
observed the diligence of a good father of the family to prevent damage. [78] In
other words, while the burden of proving negligence rests on the plaintiffs, once
negligence is shown, the burden shifts to the respondents (parent, guardian,
teacher or employer) who should prove that they observed the diligence of a
good father of a family to prevent damage.
In the instant case, respondent hospital, apart from a general denial of its
responsibility over respondent physicians, failed to adduce evidence showing
that it exercised the diligence of a good father of a family in the hiring and
supervision of the latter. It failed to adduce evidence with regard to the degree
of supervision which it exercised over its physicians. In neglecting to offer such
proof, or proof of a similar nature, respondent hospital thereby failed to
discharge its burden under the last paragraph of Article 2180. Having failed to do
this, respondent hospital is consequently solidarily responsible with its
physicians for Erlindas condition.”
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responsibility. The duty of providing quality medical service is no longer the sole
prerogative and responsibility of the physician. This is because the modern
hospital now tends to organize a highly professional medical staff whose
competence and performance need also to be monitored by the hospital
commensurate with its inherent responsibility to provide quality medical care.
Such responsibility includes the proper supervision of the members of its medical
staff. Accordingly, the hospital has the duty to make a reasonable effort to
monitor and oversee the treatment prescribed and administered by the
physicians practicing in its premises.
REFERENCES:
Jurisprudence as cited
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