Corona ‘high-risk’ patient, still in ICU

Chief Justice Renato Corona JOSEPH VIDAL-PRIB

MANILA, Philippines— Chief Justice Renato Corona won’t make it to the Senate, acting as impeachment court, on Wednesday afternoon following the doctors’ announcement at The Medical City that he is a “very high-risk patient” and needed to be monitored closely for the next 48 hours.

He has to stay at the Intensive Care Unit of the said hospital, where he was brought at 1 a.m. Wednesday.

“It is not prudent for us to clear him to go to the Senate this (Wednesday) afternoon,” Dr. Eugenio Jose Ramos, senior vice president of Medical Services Group of The Medical City hospital in Pasig City said Wednesday morning.

Ramos told reporters that Corona is being treated for “possible acute coronary syndrome or heart attack”.

Based on the medical bulletin issued Wednesday morning, Corona was brought to the hospital suffering from “shortness of breath, cold sweats and light-headedness.”

The bulletin noted the Chief Justice missed his lunch Tuesday, which may have caused the hypoglycemia even if he had his usual dose of insulin.

“The hypoglycemia is one of the dangers in insulin treatment. Because hypoglycemia in a patient with heart condition can actually trigger a heart attack,” Ramos explained.

He added Corona has been diabetic for the past 20 years, on daily insulin, with complications involving both kidneys and the heart.

He also said that Corona’s kidney function is poor and has had two heart bypass operations, in 1995 and 2008.

Blurred vision

High court spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said when he talked to the Chief Justice Tuesday night, Corona told him that while on the witness stand his vision became blurry, dizzy.

“Tinanong ko rin siya about sa nangyari kahapon. Pati ako nagulat eh. Iyon pala five minutes bago matapos ang pahayag niya eh lumalabo na paningin, nasusuka, nahihilo. Ayaw naman niyang magcollapse or masuka sa senate impeachment floor (I asked him what happened yesterday. Even I was surprised. What happened was, five minutes before he finished his statement, his vision became blurry, he felt like vomiting, he was so dizzy),” Marquez said.

He added he also noticed the Chief Justice was disoriented when he stood up from the witness stand.

“Nung hinabol ko siya, sinabi niya nahihirapan na raw siyang huminga, lumambot ang binti (When I tried to catch up with him, he told me he already has difficulty in breathing, his knees weakened),” Marquez said.

“Sabi ko sa kanya kagabi, chief kung kakayanin nyo naman, kahit nakaharap kayo nang nakaswero. Kaya lang after a while eh pinasok na siya ng ICU (I told him last night, if you can still testify, even on dextrose. Then again, eventually he was rushed to the ICU),” Marquez told reporters.

As of posting, the Senate has sent its own doctor, Mariano Blancha, to check on Corona’s condition.

With reports from Louie Garcia and Chona Yu, Radio Inquirer

For more, listen to the attached audio clip from 990 AM Radio Inquirer.

Originally posted at 11:13 am | Wednesday, May 23,  2012