Napoles does not need immediate surgery, PNP doctor tells court
Janet Lim-Napoles. Contributed Photo by Philippine National Police Public Information Office
MANILA, Philippines — While Janet Lim Napoles has been diagnosed with myoma in the uterus, she need not undergo surgical treatment at this time, according to the police doctor summoned to testify in court.
Chief Inspector Michelle Daguno, an obstetrician-gynecologist assigned at the Philippine National Police General Hospital at Camp Crame, took the witness stand on Tuesday during a hearing on the motion of Napoles, the alleged brains behind the P10-billion pork barrel scam, to undergo surgery at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Bonifacio Global City.
“Surgery is warranted… for her condition,” Daguno told the sala of Judge Elmo Alameda of the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 which handles the serious illegal detention charges filed against Napoles and her brother Reynald Lim.
But when prosecution lawyer Henry Salazar asked if Napoles did not need to immediately undergo surgery, Daguno said: “Yes.”
The PNP doctor said she was told by Napoles that she has been bleeding for 39 days from January 15 to February 20.
To treat the blood loss, Napoles has been taking Iberet, an iron supplement capsule, three times a day.
But the prosecution questioned Napoles’ normal blood count as indicated in the results of the medical exams she took on February 26 at Camp Crame.
“So (the blood count) disproves the fact that she has been bleeding for 39 days?” Salazar asked, to which Daguno answered “Yes.”
Defense lawyer Bruce Rivera manifested in court that Napoles might not be anemic during the medical exams because she has been taking iron supplements.
The prosecution also hinted in the trial that Napoles, 50, might be nearing menopausal stage.
“In your experience, if a woman is 50, the myoma may diminish after menopausal?” Salazar asked the doctor. The doctor answered “Yes.”
Napoles, according to Daguno, has a uterus with the size equivalent to that of a woman three months old pregnant.
The cyst could be removed either through oral medication or through surgery, she said.
The continuation of the hearing was set on March 18 as the defense asked the court to present another witness, a doctor from the St. Luke’s Medical Center.
Meanwhile, also at the hearing, Daguno told the court the PNP has shelled out funds for the rental of the transvaginal ultrasound equipment.
Judge Alameda muttered: “Ako pa pala ang napasama,” referring to his order for Napoles to be examined at Camp Crame.
He explained that he was relying on the testimony of PNP doctor that Camp Crame had the facility for the exams Napoles needed.
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