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Woman dies after being rejected by 6 hospitals


 

A woman who had just given birth died on Friday after failing to receive treatment from more than six hospitals.

According to Mai Bermudez’s 24 Oras Weekend report on Sunday, Catherine Bulatao successfully gave birth at their home in Caloocan but needed a medical procedure due to a complication.

The midwife who assisted in the birth recommended that she should be immediately brought to a hospital to remove the placenta from her uterus.

She was first brought to the Dalagan-Ciudadano Midwife Clinic, but they were told to go to a specialist.

“Ginalaw naman po siya. Pinutol ‘yong pusod noong bata tapos sabi nila hindi na raw din nila kaya, ilipat na namin ng hospital,” Erma Zeta, Catherine’s mother, said.

The midwife also said Bulatao lost a lot of blood.

“Matagal na po siguro nag-bleeding na siguro sa bahay kasi maputlang-maputla na siya noong dumating. Halos ‘pag tinatanong mo siya, ‘di mo na makausap, natutulog na lang, ginigising ko siya,” Mary Joy Francisco said.

“Pagkapa ko, ang taas noong inunan, nagtawag ako ng bantay, kasama niya, sabi ko maghanap ng sasakyan, i-transfer ng hospital kasi sobrang taas noong inunan niya,” Francisco added.

When Bulatao was brought to the North Caloocan Doctors Hospital, she was asked to transfer to a different facility because they did not have enough supply of blood.

Her family then brought her to the Far Eastern University Hospital in Quezon City, but they were asked to give a downpayment of P30,000 for the operation.

“Ang inano po namin sa kaniya, baka puwedeng i-admit niyo muna kasi uuwi nga po ‘yong manugang ko, kukuha ng pera. Ang sabi po hindi puwede. Kung puwede po, bumalik na lang po kayo ng may P30,000 po kayo,” Zeta said.

“Pera ko rin po kasi dito P5,000 lang baka puwede kakong P5,000 lang muna. Hindi raw po puwede, P30,000 talaga ang inaano sa’min,” she added.

The family then went to the Bermudez Hospital, Skyline Hospital and Grace Hospital in Bulacan but the hospital staff all said they did not have an obstetrician available.

When they arrived at the San Jose del Monte General Hospital, Bulatao was declared dead on arrival.

GMA News sought comments from the North Caloocan Doctors Hospital, Commonwealth Hospital and Medical Center and Bermudez Hospital but there was no one available due to the weekend.

Meanwhile, the FEU Hospital said it would respond after it received a request for an interview via email.

The Bulatao family said they were set to file a complaint against all the hospitals who turned them away.

“Parang unfair po kasi hindi man lang nila chineck ‘yong vitals noong pasyente bago nila i-advise sa’min na i-transfer sa ibang ospital muna. Para at least malalaman namin kung ayos pa, kung kaya pa ba, aabot pa ba sa susunod na pupuntahan,” John Christian Bulatao, Catherine’s husband, said.

“Ang hirap isipin na pera muna na mas mahalaga ‘yong pera kaysa sa buhay muna,” he added.

While the Department of Health had yet to comment on the matter, the Department of Justice ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to look into the incident. — Ma. Angelica Garcia/DVM, GMA News

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