The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will probe six hospitals in Nueva Ecija after they allegedly rejected a 65-year-old asthmatic patient due to overcapacity.
Secretary Menardo Guevarra told GMA News today that the Department of Justice has already given the green light to the NBI to conduct the investigation.
The patient, Ladislao Cabiling, was reportedly brought from one hospital to another on Thursday last week after he experienced difficulty in breathing. His daughter Girlie Cagaoan told radio station DZBB that each hospital they went to rejected them because they were operating at full capacity.
Many hospitals all over Luzon, especially in Metro Manila, have had to turn down people due to the deluge of patients infected with COVID-19.
Read: Pasig City hospital tells people to look for treatment elsewhere due to COVID-19 overcrowding
“They saw that my father was suffering. None of them even gave first aid to my father,” Cagaoan said. “There was nothing we could do. He said, ‘Let’s just go home.’ I think he felt sorry for himself.”
Cabiling was first brought to Immaculate Concepcion Medical Center, followed by Wesleyan University-Philippines Hospital, Nueva Ecija Doctor’s Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital, Premiere General Hospital, and Dr. Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Research and Medical Center, which allegedly also rejected the patient despite his children’s pleas, reports Journal Online. Left with no choice, Cabiling’s family brought him home where he eventually died.
President Rodrigo Duterte reportedly heard of the elderly patient’s story, which led him to warn hospitals in a publicly broadcast speech early this week that he would have them prosecuted if they refuse to treat a patient.
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