Personal doctors allowed to attend to Janet

MANILA, Philippines - The Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 150 yesterday allowed the personal physicians of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles to attend to her at the Ospital ng Makati (Osmak).

In a two-page order, Judge Elmo Alameda said permission was given after the administration of Osmak manifested its willingness and readiness to grant the request of Napoles that she be attended to by doctors of her choice under the Philippine Medical Association Declaration on the Rights and Obligations of the Patient.

“Bolstered by the testimony of Dr. Perry Ishmael Peralta, medical director of Ospital ng Makati, that granting the request would not violate any existing rules and regulations of the hospital, then the court will not hesitate to give its imprimatur to this medical undertaking for humanitarian considerations,” the order stated.

Peralta earlier testified in court that while Osmak is willing to have Napoles’ physicians take part in her treatment, the non-affiliated doctors should follow the standard care of a patient as well as the rules, regulations and policies of Osmak.

Given permission to participate in Napoles’ treatment at the Osmak are her personal physicians Elsie Badillo-Pascua, Efren Domingo, Leo Alquilizan, Michael Lim-Villa, Nick Cruz and an unnamed anesthesiologist.

Peralta said the hospital would file a motion to allow Napoles’ doctors to assist in her treatment but only under “a limited authority to practice.”

In its order, the court also noted that Napoles’ period of confinement at the Osmak only covers the pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative procedures.

“To deter any prolonged confinement, the attending physician of the accused and Dr. Perry Peralta are directed to submit a progress report to this court and the prosecutors led by Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Christopher Garvida on the medical condition of the patient immediately after the intra-operative procedure,” the court order added.

On Tuesday, Peralta said Napoles would still need to undergo more tests before any procedure could be performed to remove her uterine myoma.

“We are preparing her for definitive treatment. We are conducting the necessary tests and examinations in order to assess her risks and to clear her for whatever treatment we intend to afford Mrs. Napoles,” he said.

“She will have to be examined by our different specialists. Based on the examinations, we will correlate from the results of the tests,” he added, noting that only then can they evaluate the treatment options and the exact health status of patient.

Napoles was scheduled to undergo a blood test yesterday.