Sister in law being held as prisoner in hospital - Is this legal in the Philippines?

[blondedoc 35]

Let´s face it... Did you guys know if there´s any kind of medical issue for her?

Are you guys sure that they simply left the baby die?

Doctors study so much to get their degrees and they don´t become doctors to kill anyone... It´s the opposite! lol

Me, as a doctor I can say that we get hurt when we loose a patient, it does not matter if it has money or not... Seriously...

So always look by both sides of the story... A lot can come up...

Take someone who is from the health care to talk with those people...

Take your own conclusions can be harmful for you...

The doctor and the hospital can sue you if you are writing this without a healthcare background... You are accusing them, maybe with something that it´s completely different...

Think about it...

[aratamorne 164]

My fiancee's sister delivered her baby 2 months early in the Philippines. Aside from basic care, the Hospital refused to do anything until they had money in hand. When he says they let the baby die, he is most likely not wrong. My fiancee's family borrowed, pawned, and contacted every available resource to fund the baby's care, otherwise the hospital did nothing. My fiancee went from pharmacy to pharmacy and blood bank to blood bank to get everything the baby needed because the hospital did not have it on hand and was not going to get it themselves. My fiancee is a nurse and she even told me exactly how it was..... if you can't pay the hospital in cash money, you do not get anything beyond basic treatment unless you are famous or a foreigner. Need a prescription or medical supplies, family goes to get it, not the hospital's concern, especially if you have a balance on your bill.

So sorry for your wife and family's loss, JG. Best wishes to them.

[jg121783 3,915]

Let´s face it... Did you guys know if there´s any kind of medical issue for her?

Are you guys sure that they simply left the baby die?

Doctors study so much to get their degrees and they don´t become doctors to kill anyone... It´s the opposite! lol

Me, as a doctor I can say that we get hurt when we loose a patient, it does not matter if it has money or not... Seriously...

So always look by both sides of the story... A lot can come up...

Take someone who is from the health care to talk with those people...

Take your own conclusions can be harmful for you...

The doctor and the hospital can sue you if you are writing this without a healthcare background... You are accusing them, maybe with something that it´s completely different...

Think about it...

My fiancee's sister delivered her baby 2 months early in the Philippines. Aside from basic care, the Hospital refused to do anything until they had money in hand. When he says they let the baby die, he is most likely not wrong. My fiancee's family borrowed, pawned, and contacted every available resource to fund the baby's care, otherwise the hospital did nothing. My fiancee went from pharmacy to pharmacy and blood bank to blood bank to get everything the baby needed because the hospital did not have it on hand and was not going to get it themselves. My fiancee is a nurse and she even told me exactly how it was..... if you can't pay the hospital in cash money, you do not get anything beyond basic treatment unless you are famous or a foreigner. Need a prescription or medical supplies, family goes to get it, not the hospital's concern, especially if you have a balance on your bill.

So sorry for your wife and family's loss, JG. Best wishes to them.

I get where you are coming from blondedoc but the fact of the mater is aratamorne is 100% correct when she says the hospital wont give anything beyond basic care without money in hand. My wife's family had to scramble to scrape up enough money so that they would even do the surgery on my sister in law to deliver the baby. If they hadn't the hospital may have just let my sister in law die too. The baby was born with under developed lungs and the doctors said there was a drug that could save her if she got it within 12 hours. However they refused to administer it without payment in full for the drug even though my wife's family had half of the money for it and was going to get the rest as soon as the bank opened. We may never know if the baby would have survived with the drug but the doctors knew without it the baby had a very slim chance of making it. To me that puts the responsibility for my niece's death on them for being negligent. Furthermore my sister in law is still in need of blood transfusions that the hospital has but refuses to administer without payment. Luckly my wife's family found people with the same blood type that will go donate blood today. As many problems as we have with our health care system (Obamacare comes to mind) this type of thing would be totally unacceptable here in the US or most other western countries and people would go to prison for a long time.

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

I have heard this happening many times and my wife has said she has heard of it as well. They had on TFC a couple months back that a father actually got arrested because he broke into a hospital to get the body of his 3 year old dead son. It turns out that the hospital would not release the body to be buried because the father still had a balance on his son's account.

[blondedoc 35]

I understand... It´s very sad, very sad...

So I can´t say exactly, because I don´t know the health care law and all the financial procedures on these cases in Phillipines.

I know just about y country (Brazil) and here, they provide basic support even for those who have no money, but this medicine to help the lung of the baby, for instance, is something really expensive and they simply don´t provide it. IF the family get money for that, they give.

I´m really sorry about this story and I hope she will get over it, without any other problems, once she already have this trauma of her loss.

I wish I could help...

All the best, be fine.

[cristina16 81]

Here is what happened. My sister in law gave birth 2 month premature last Friday. The hospital refused treatment for my neice because my sister in law couldn't pay for the treatment upfront. A couple days later my niece passed away as a result. My sister in law is well enough to go home now but the hospital refuses to let her leave or turn over the body of her daughter for burial until all the bills are paid. Can they do this? I did some research and found REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9439 which seems to prohibit this with penalties of fines and/or imprisonment. Here is a link: http://www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2007/ra_9439_2007.html Does anyone know anything about this or where we can find a competent lawyer to handle this? I have set up a go fund me page to try to raise money for the medical bills and now maybe legal expenses but I wont post it here because I am unsure if it violates the terms of service for this message board.

I'm sorry this happened to your family. That is a sad reality although against the law.

First thing first, the mom and newborn should be able to go home. All Hospitals has an office that they can go to ask for help, that is normally under the mayors office. Are they on a public hospital? Most hospitals waive certain fees (or give discounted fees) with the help of the mayor's office. How much is the bill that your family cannot be able to pay? It could be not even more than $2000.

Hiring a lawyer and fighting at this time is not a logical in my opinion, you cannot pay the hospital and now you wanted to hire a lawyer? use the money to pay the bills instead and give your niece a proper burial.

Now if you really wanted to fight for the unlawful act, after all has been taken cared off they can file the case,. Make sure they have all the paper trail/ proofs that they were held in the hospital because they cannot pay their bill.

[jg121783 3,915]

I'm sorry this happened to your family. That is a sad reality although against the law.

First thing first, the mom and newborn should be able to go home. All Hospitals has an office that they can go to ask for help, that is normally under the mayors office. Are they on a public hospital? Most hospitals waive certain fees (or give discounted fees) with the help of the mayor's office. How much is the bill that your family cannot be able to pay? It could be not even more than $2000.

Hiring a lawyer and fighting at this time is not a logical in my opinion, you cannot pay the hospital and now you wanted to hire a lawyer? use the money to pay the bills instead and give your niece a proper burial.

Now if you really wanted to fight for the unlawful act, after all has been taken cared off they can file the case,. Make sure they have all the paper trail/ proofs that they were held in the hospital because they cannot pay their bill.

This is a private hospital. My wife said they chose it because the public hospitals provide sub standard care. The bill is around $4000 and going up every day. i was not thinking about getting a lawyer at this point but maybe at least talk to one to find out what the options are. The top priority is getting my sister in law home and her baby buried. However if possible I would like to see these people held criminally liable after everything is said and done.

[Princess Ann 0]

Go to pcso it's a charity the maximum they can help is 50,000 pesos check their requirement ...

[cristina16 81]

Oh! They are in a private Hospital, well for one - people who chose to be in a private hospital should know that fees goes up every minute and all fees differ whether you are in a semi private room or a suite. Given that, most people still prefer to be in a private hospital even if by the end of the day fees are way over what they can pay since some Govt hospitals are not well equipped, When life is at risk, cost are set aside and everyone will risk all limbs to save a love ones life.

As to consult a lawyer on their case, they can go to the Public Attorney's office (PAO) at their City Hall or Municipal Hall; there they can consult for free. I am not sure if they have a PAO' though if they are from the provinces. Keep in mind, you are in the Philippines, running after these private Hospitals will take time and money and of course they have lawyers too. maybe PAO can help them secure a promissory note for the mother and baby be discharged. Try to seek the help of Local Agencies, PCSO is one as suggested above.

This is out of topic here so, we might be shoot down. I hope everything goes well.

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

Oh! They are in a private Hospital, well for one - people who chose to be in a private hospital should know that fees goes up every minute and all fees differ whether you are in a semi private room or a suite. Given that, most people still prefer to be in a private hospital even if by the end of the day fees are way over what they can pay since some Govt hospitals are not well equipped, When life is at risk, cost are set aside and everyone will risk all limbs to save a love ones life.

As to consult a lawyer on their case, they can go to the Public Attorney's office (PAO) at their City Hall or Municipal Hall; there they can consult for free. I am not sure if they have a PAO' though if they are from the provinces. Keep in mind, you are in the Philippines, running after these private Hospitals will take time and money and of course they have lawyers too. maybe PAO can help them secure a promissory note for the mother and baby be discharged. Try to seek the help of Local Agencies, PCSO is one as suggested above.

This is out of topic here so, we might be shoot down. I hope everything goes well.

So true but also sad at the same time. My wife's friend just died in a private hospital this week due to not wanting to wait in line at a public hospital for dialysis, so she went to a private hospital. Supposedly there was complications from the dialysis due to the nurse, and my wife's friend died this week at 34. She left behind two small boys, and now they are going to file a case against the hospital.

[teddy k 35]

This story is so sad all the way around it's how the Philippines screws it's own people the corruption is so rampide everywhere you turn the government doesn't care cuz it's a way of life. I feel sorry for the people who they their best by what they have but to be on cuz of being poor it hurts. I've been to the Philippines a few times and enjoyed the company of the heart warming people there

[EM_Vandaveer 2,408]

Let´s face it... Did you guys know if there´s any kind of medical issue for her?

Are you guys sure that they simply left the baby die?

Doctors study so much to get their degrees and they don´t become doctors to kill anyone... It´s the opposite! lol

Me, as a doctor I can say that we get hurt when we loose a patient, it does not matter if it has money or not... Seriously...

So always look by both sides of the story... A lot can come up...

Take someone who is from the health care to talk with those people...

Take your own conclusions can be harmful for you...

The doctor and the hospital can sue you if you are writing this without a healthcare background... You are accusing them, maybe with something that it´s completely different...

Think about it...

It would be nice if this was true in every country but it is not.

I know for a fact (heard it from South Africans themselves) that for example in South Africa you can be bleeding out in the hallway of a hospital and you won't be helped without money.

Sad but true.

[EM_Vandaveer 2,408]

My wife went in there and told them she was willing to sign something taking responsibility for the debt but they weren't having it. This is why we need to find a lawyer so they can interpret the law for us.

Yeah, then they are breaking the law. I'm sorry I'm not sure how to free your sister-in-law.

[Brassballs 47]

Not that it makes any difference at this stage but did Lisa give any indication that she was married to an American?

MAY have had some bearing on how much they could get out of the family!

[teddy k 35]

As soon they hear that she has an American benefactor they see $$$$$$$$$