SC junks civil liability of ex-NKTI hospital chief in organ transplant case

The Supreme Court building in Manila. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court has acquitted of any civil liability the former head of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) who was sued by the mother of an accident victim for ordering her son’s internal organs harvested and transplanted without permission.

The high court’s Third Division, in a decision dated April 7 and uploaded to the tribunal’s website last week, ruled that the defendant, the NKTI’s former executive director, Dr. Filoteo Alano, was not negligent in authorizing the institute’s surgeons led by Dr. Enrique Ona, now the health secretary, to remove the kidneys, pancreas, liver and heart of Arnelito Logmao after he was declared brain dead.

The justices also dismissed the award for damages worth P550,000 that the Court of Appeals had given in 2006 to Logmao’s mother Zenaida, who had claimed that there was a conspiracy to harvest her son’s organs while he was still alive and that his true identity was deliberately concealed.

In the nine-page ruling written by Justice Diosdado Peralta, the high court said the complainant failed to substantiate her claims, adding, “[T]here can be no cavil that petitioner employed reasonable means to disseminate notifications intended to reach the relatives of the deceased.”

The justices also said there was no reason to hold Alano liable for the emotional pain and suffering that Zenaida experienced.

Court records showed that Logmao, 18, was brought to the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City after falling from an overpass near Farmers’ Market in Cubao at 9:50 p.m. on March 1, 1988.

The patient’s name, however, was erroneously listed at the hospital as “Angelito Lugmoso” of Boni Avenue, Mandaluyong City.

Early the next day, Logmao suffered seizures and progressively deteriorated. He was transferred unconscious to the NKTI.

At the NKTI, Ona noted the severity of Logmao’s injuries and recommended that he be made an organ donor should he expire. A transplant coordinator then contacted the police and media to find Logmao’s family in Mandaluyong.

Due to the error in his recorded name, Logmao’s family could not be located. The victim was pronounced brain dead at 9:10 a.m. on March 3 due to “craniocerebral injury.” Ona requested Alano to authorize the removal of Logmao’s organs for transplantation.

Alano issued a memorandum approving Ona’s request, provided reasonable efforts had been made to contact Logmao’s relatives. Under the laws on transplants, namely, Republic Act No. 349 and Presidential Decree No. 856, hospital authorities may authorize organ transplants if the donor had no next of kin.

Since no relatives came forward to claim Logmao’s body, the NKTI went ahead with the organ harvesting and transplant. Two patients benefited from Logmao’s organs.