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The Cebu Rectal Surgery Scandal, Not a Laughing Matter

My daughter used to tell me that I am so boring. I don’t take risks. I am not adventurous. Have some fun, Mom. Loosen a bit. Enjoy Life. Laugh more. This conversation happened four years ago. I didn’t know any better then. Our children teach us so many valuable insights, right?

Right, this is life. This is not a funeral service. Have some fun in it. Participate. Experiment. Take a risk. Be spontaneous. I shouldn’t be too concerned about doing it right or doing the appropriate thing. I laugh a lot now. I love jokes. I laugh at the witty articles written by the Man blog. I snicker at my husband’s corny jokes.

But wait. There are boundaries to laughter and having fun.

There is one thing that I will never do and that is laughing at people’s failures or peculiarities. I don’t find toilet humor funny except “farting” jokes. haha. So when I viewed the video of the Cebu Doctors laughing over rectum operation, I felt anger and disappointment. Here are my fellow Cebuanos mocking their patient. I understand Cebuano dialect and I listened to the conversation taking place in the operating room.

Even if you don’t understand Cebuano, you can still comprehend the conversation. If you listen to the video, you can hear the uncontrollable , hilarious shrieks, the joke of shoving the canister back in, and the utter disregard of the man’s dignity.

This is not the kind of fun I want.

Excuse me doctors, nurses, kibitizers of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, enlighten me. I want to know what is so funny that you had to jeer and cheer?

Here is a feature of that Cebu Rectal Surgery Scandal in Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho shown April 26, 2008 with an interview of the patient:

22 thoughts on “The Cebu Rectal Surgery Scandal, Not a Laughing Matter”

  1. I didn’t even want to finish viewing that video.

    I remember when my appendix was removed. I was 17 years old. I was a bit sedated but conscious. I could hear the doctors gossiping and chuckling while performing the surgery. It made me feel uncomfortable that they were not 100 percent concentrating on me.

  2. @Ed- very unprofessional talaga

    @Rhodora- I also remember in my cesarian operation the gossip the medical staff would do…it bothered me as well

    @Lemon- I am so ashamed that my fellow Cebuanos did a terrible unethical thing

    @Jhay- There should be severe sanctions.

    @Jim- I am okay but I AM NOT happy that Jessica Soho’s segment producer showed some sort of reenactment of my son’s death

    @Aloe- what do you mean by “I hope you have moved on”….It’s been 8 years, yes I have moved on to my new normal…I have moved on and accepted that he died.

    But…..

    If you mean move on and forget my son ever lived, you better be careful with your words. I want to be clear on what you mean by that because you should not say that to anyone who lost their loved one…

    @guardian angel- thanks for watching

    @Tetet- very big blow. An insult.

  3. very unprofessional; these doctors should be very sensitive to their patients’ feelings. i remembered when my days old daughter got hospitalized and how the nurses don’t just pay attention to us becoz they are so busy telling stories with each other; how the medtech got irritated when my husband told them to be careful in injecting the dextrose needle in my daughter’s hand, and how the doctor just don’t give a damn when we asked for his help. are these the kind of medical professionals we have in the country…no heart at all.

  4. isn’t it there are laws/guidelines in the medical profession and the nursing profession-protect the patient’s privacy and maintain the patient’s dignity- and why this horrible and tacky behavior of the said operating room indiciduals!-their license should be suspended for a year or even seven years!!!! if you are here in new york or other states you cannot do this! we have HIPAA guidelines to follow and the patient- is the center of all our efforts (one huge city hospital’s famous saying!).

  5. correction – it should read individuals!- if you are interested what HIPAA means just look up the word in your computer! Also when a procedure or surgery such as this is going inside the operating room- the head surgeon should have stopped the behavior and make sure nobody is videotaping the said surgery! this is a big no no here in NY! – clearly the people that are involved in this fiasco needs to be punished- and the patient should be awarded a huge monetary compensation— duh!!!

  6. In some working environmental, having joke and being fun is good for productivity. But joking in the middle of operation, I’m very sure that it is improper. Surprisingly this happened in the profesional medical world…

  7. I am about to go through a major colon-rectal surgery. I’m having a complete colectomy. I’ve been battling Ulcerative Colitis, kind of like Chron’s, for the past couple of years. It’s reached the point were surgery is the only option.

    After seeing this I am both dismayed and worried! I couldn’t believe it. What happened to “do no harm”? How could you mock a person who is in such a vulnerable state? It’s sad on so many levels.

    BadEvan’s last blog post..BadEvan Needs Your Help

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