YouTube surgery video spells trouble for docs
Philippine surgeons cheer after removing object from patient's rectum
updated 9:38 a.m. ET, Wed., April. 16, 2008
MANILA, Philippines - A video posted on YouTube showing Philippine doctors laughing while removing an object from a patient may lead to charges against the surgeons and cost them their medical licenses, officials said Wednesday.
The unauthorized nearly 3-minute video of a noisy operating room shows doctors and nurses laughing, giggling and cheering.
At one point, a hand appears with a cell phone camera taking a close-up picture of the surgery.
As a doctor gingerly pulls out the 6-inch long canister from the male patient's rectum, someone shouts, "Baby out!" amid loud cheers.
The doctor then removes the canister cap and sprays the contents toward the crowd of nurses and doctors viewing the procedure.
It remains unclear who shot the video and who posted it on YouTube, but the person who posted it removed it from the Web site Wednesday.
The video has angered the unidentified patient who plans to press charges, his lawyer Guiller Ceniza said Wednesday.
The government-run Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in the central city of Cebu, where the surgery took place, is conducting an investigation, a spokesman said Wednesday.
Dr. Emmanuel Gines said more than 10 people were involved — including staff and medical and nursing students from a nearby operating room.
He said the hospital takes videos of surgeries of peculiar cases, but only with the consent of the patient.
Investigation possible
Dr. Jose Sabili, president of the Philippine Medical Association, told The Associated Press on Wednesday the group will conduct an investigation if a formal complaint is filed and doctors found violating medical ethics could be suspended or expelled from the association, which would result in the suspension or termination of their state health insurance accreditation.
The results of the investigation could also be used by the Professional Regulations Commission to suspend or revoke their licenses, Sabili said.
"I believe what they did was very blatant," he said.
Health Undersecretary Alexander Padilla said the Health Department will conduct a separate investigation.
The 39-year-old patient received surgery on Jan. 3, three days after a New Year's drinking spree and a "one-night stand" with a male partner, Ceniza, the lawyer, told the AP.
He said his client was too drunk to remember how the body spray canister ended up in his body.
Ceniza said the man was determined to file charges but will wait for the results of the hospital's investigation, expected later in the week.
