tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8076734524754832002026-01-22T20:38:23.094-08:00merlmdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07407286481553054112noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807673452475483200.post-19232791587556501302017-08-02T01:50:00.000-07:002024-01-02T00:52:06.632-08:00

Five years ago, a dear friend passed on. I did not even know she was sick. She was only 46 years old and stayed for a month and a half at the intensive care unit because of post-operative complications. She underwent major abdominal surgery after she was diagnosed with a malignant growth in her stomach. The surgery took 11 hours to finish. A few hours post-op, she developed respiratory failure

merlmdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07407286481553054112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807673452475483200.post-69891567652904436302015-09-07T23:17:00.002-07:002015-09-07T23:17:33.104-07:00

As health professionals and workers, death and suffering is a natural occurrence that we deal with everyday. So much so that many of us have developed a callous and apathetic attitude towards it, even to the point where we make fun and laugh about it.  Just this morning as I opened my Facebook, the first thing I saw was that of a status post about the "heavens opening" and following that,

merlmdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07407286481553054112noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807673452475483200.post-85599898048018112592015-06-11T00:21:00.000-07:002015-06-11T00:21:22.678-07:00

In the hospital, we experience death and dying daily but because we are so used to seeing it everyday that it has become "ordinary"...in other words, a part of our daily routine, so that hospital workers are perceived to be callous to pain and suffering.  How often do I get complaints about how our emergency room staff  behaves while the dead patient is still in the ER...like how

merlmdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07407286481553054112noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807673452475483200.post-26115659760826197452014-03-27T01:05:00.002-07:002015-10-14T21:34:35.433-07:00

This post first came out in my other blog Politika-et-Kultura on February 23, 2011.  The original RH Bill discussed below had revisions since then, but the current version that was eventually passed as The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 (informally known as the RH Law) by Congress and the Senate, is for me just as unsatisfactory as the original. I believe it's

merlmdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07407286481553054112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807673452475483200.post-61729734177151979922012-08-05T09:26:00.001-07:002014-03-27T00:37:00.048-07:00

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! 

merlmdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07407286481553054112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807673452475483200.post-3322668417405910702012-07-15T10:43:00.001-07:002012-08-10T20:16:20.335-07:00

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

merlmdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07407286481553054112noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807673452475483200.post-61649514235672473682012-05-25T10:08:00.003-07:002012-07-11T08:11:22.426-07:00

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.&

merlmdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07407286481553054112noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807673452475483200.post-56404003445149954092012-05-04T11:17:00.000-07:002012-06-23T07:56:57.570-07:00

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

merlmdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07407286481553054112noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807673452475483200.post-76490109988801553252012-04-19T19:03:00.000-07:002012-06-23T07:57:22.736-07:00

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

merlmdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07407286481553054112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807673452475483200.post-73749378785201546202012-04-19T10:07:00.001-07:002012-06-23T07:57:38.071-07:00

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

merlmdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07407286481553054112noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807673452475483200.post-2325818828371991692011-12-28T03:43:00.000-08:002012-06-23T07:57:50.209-07:00

Virtues are defined as positive traits of character to think and act in ways that are good. It is to do what is morally right. I will not attempt to discuss the concept or philosophy of virtues as a whole, that is not my area of expertise.  But I have been in the health care industry  and teaching profession long enough to know that the character of a person is not given much weight

merlmdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07407286481553054112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807673452475483200.post-78198184436351534082009-08-13T23:03:00.000-07:002015-06-10T23:21:20.214-07:00

I have been feeling really down the past few days. I now know what it feels like to be hated and maligned. In my adult life, in spite of my candid nature, I have tried to make a conscious effort not to offend people...unfortunately, inadvertently in my work and the position I hold I cannot totally avoid it. I am often misunderstood and my good intentions become suspect. I know that what

merlmdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07407286481553054112noreply@blogger.com1