CA upholds revocation of Hayden Kho's medical license

The Court of Appeals (CA) has upheld the revocation of the medical license of controversial personality Hayden Kho.

 

In a June 29 ruling penned by Associate Justice Edwin Sorongon, the appeals court's Eighth Division said the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) has the authority to suspend a medical practitioner or revoke his or her medical license.

 

Kho was embroiled in a sex scandal involving actress Katrina Halili in 2009. The scandal involved videos of the two either in a sexy dance or engaged in a sexual act that went viral on the Internet.

 

Halili filed an administrative complaint against Kho before the PRC, insisting she did not give her consent to have themselves recorded on camera.

 

Through an investigation by its medical board, the PRC found Kho guilty of  immorality, dishonorable and/or unethical conduct, and revoked his license. Kho asked the PRC to reconsider its decision but the PRC denied it on Feb. 8, 2010.

 

Kho appealed the case  to the CA, insisting that his license should not have been revoked because the acts in question were not done in relation to his medical practice.

 

But the appeals court did not side with Kho.

 

"A relation between the complained act constituting immorality or dishonorable conduct to the practice of medicine need not exist. It may pertain to life in general as there can be no dichotomy to separate a physician's existence into his professional and personal being," the CA said in its ruling.

 

The CA said the "standard of morality" expected of a medical practitioner is high because he or she has been entrusted with the health, safety, and well-being of the public.

 

"The practice of medicine is not a natural right but a privilege bestowed by the State on those who show that they possess, and continue to possess, the qualifications required by the conferment of such privilege," the CA said.

 

Kho was also slapped with a separate criminal case for violation against women, also in 2009, but it was dismissed by a Pasig City court for insufficiency of evidence.

 

Judge Rodolfo Bonifacio of the Pasig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 159 also dismissed for lack of merit Halili's civil damages claim worth P100 million.

 

Kho had insisted he was not the one who circulated the video, saying that the computer containing the video was stolen from him in December 2008. — RSJ, GMA News