Stop The Debates: Pass The Freakin' RH Bill >:(

The past few days, there has been so much debate on the Philippine Reproductive Health (RH) Bill both in mainstream and social media due to the fact that this week Congress will be voting on it.  For the record, I am an Anti-RH Bill advocate, BUT I realized that the only way to conclude this never ending debate that is not doing this country any good, is to PASS THAT FREAKIN' BILL! 

The Dying Patient

The Daily Telegraph, a UK paper has this health article posted on their website.  The title is Hospitals "letting patients die to save money".  It should not surprise me since euthanasia seems to be a desirable option now-a-days for people in more developed countries who does not want to suffer from a debilitating or terminal illness.  But still, news like this continue to surprise me simply because I believe in the sanctity of life and no one, absolutely no one has a right to take it away. 

The Filipino Patient's Rights

All of us at one time in our lives will experience some sort of illness and become patients. But, does every patient know their rights?  Beginning in 2010 hospitals in the country were required by the Department of Health (DoH) and Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC) to post these rights prominently around their premises, particularly in the emergency room, clinics and wards.  However, there is no uniform standard on patient rights and each hospital can come out with it's own or adopt the existing standard set by the DoH.

Rational Drug Use

The Philippines, compared to it's neighbor countries has the highest drug prices in Asia next to Japan. Medicines are priced way too high beyond the reach of ordinary Filipinos so much so that many patients die, not because medicines are unavailable but primarily patients cannot afford to buy them.  This high cost is due to an unregulated free-market forces that wreak havoc on the country’s healthcare system.  Indeed, compared to the demand side, the supply side — the pharmaceutical industry — is so dominant that it can dictate whatever price it wants. Corollary to this, patients are often prescribed medically inappropriate, ineffective and economically inefficient drugs. One major challenge of the country's health system is to ensure that all citizens of the country have access to essential, life-saving medicine and rational drug use.

The Health Risks of Oral Contraceptives

I do not know if the non-medical advocates of hormonal contraceptives for birth control have their information wrong or they are just like those health professionals who are succumbing to pressures from health policy makers and government. I say this because it seems to me that there is a continuous refusal to see the facts that indeed there have been many documented adverse reactions resulting from contraceptive use, the latest of which is The Lancet study, that reported that there is a strong link between HIV transmission and the use of hormonal contraceptives, particularly injectable hormones such as Depo-Provera aka "the shot".

Teaching Empathy In Health Care

As a member of the medical profession, it is painful to see a progressive decline in empathy and conscientiousness in recent years among healthcare providers especially among new doctors. Medicine is a service career and what the patients need are compassionate, conscientious and caring doctors who will be role models for all other health care providers. The noble dictum of service above self  seems to have been replaced by the new order of self first before others.  This is the major motivation why I have been teaching Medical Ethics for the last 9 years.