Facts:
Mariter Mendoza filed a petition before the Supreme Court after the Court of Appeals (CA) reinstated the original judgment of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Iloilo City. Respondents Adriano Casumpang and their children Jennifer Adriane and John Andre, all surnamed Casumpang, were substituted for Josephine Casumpang, who initially filed an action for damages in 1993 against Dr. Mendoza before the RTC of Iloilo City. On February 13, 1993, Josephine underwent hysterectomy and myomectomy performed by Dr. Mendoza at the Iloilo Doctors Hospital. After the operation, Josephine experienced recurring fever, nausea, and vomiting. Three months after the surgery, Josephine noticed while taking a bath something protruding from her genital, and although she attempted to contact Dr. Mendoza, the latter was unavailable; Josephine then sought treatment from another physician,
Dr. Edna Jamandre-Gumban, who extracted a foul-smelling, partially expelled rolled gauze from Josephine’s cervix. Josephine’s illness and the discovery of the gauze led her to sue Dr. Mendoza, and because Josephine died before the case could be concluded, her husband and children continued the action as substituted plaintiffs. The RTC initially rendered judgment on March 7, 2005 finding Dr. Mendoza guilty of neglect that caused Josephine’s illness and eventual death, ordering payment of actual damages of
P50,000.00, moral damages of
P200,000.00, and
attorneys fees of P20,000.00 plus costs of suit. On motion for reconsideration, however, the RTC reversed itself and dismissed the complaint in an order dated June 23, 2005. On appeal, the CA, through a decision dated March 18, 2011, reinstated the RTC’s original decision, holding that Dr. Mendoza committed a breach of duty when a gauze remained inside her patient’s body after surgery; the CA denied Dr. Mendoza’s motion for reconsideration on July 18, 2011, which prompted the present petition.
Issues:
Whether the CA correctly reinstated the RTC’s original finding of liability for medical neglect based on the presence of a gauze inside the patient after surgery, notwithstanding petitioner’s claim that the hospital surgical sponge count showed no material was left in the body.
Ruling:
Ratio:
Doctrine: