Duterte: No cancer but unbearable pain on spine

President Rodrigo Duterte. AP File Photo

President Duterte has disclosed that he was taking cancer pills to relieve the unbearable pain in his spine despite a warning from his doctor that he could lose his cognitive ability and that he was already “abusing the drug.”

Mr. Duterte, 72, shared his medical condition during an hourlong talk with local and foreign business leaders in Malacañang, which ended shortly before midnight on Monday.

He said a nagging pain in his spine prompted him to take a pain killer called fentanyl, a strong synthetic opioid analgesic often used in cancer treatments which could be addictive.

But he reiterated that he was never diagnosed with cancer, a rumor that came out during the campaign period.

His doctor told him to take just a quarter of fentanyl, which the President described as a “square thing,” but he used to take two of the pills to take away the pain in his spine.

“My doctor learned that I was using the whole patch because I felt better. When he knew it, he made me stop and he said … ‘the first thing that you would lose is your cognitive ability,’” the President told the Wallace Business Forum.

He said his physician also warned him that he was already abusing the drug.

“I have this migraine every day. I had a bad sleep … . I have a lot of issues with my spine,” he said. “I have a Barrett’s (esophagus) … And I might as well tell you about my medical history. Don’t believe in cancer. What I have is really Buerger’s disease.”

Barrett’s esophagus, a serious complication of gastroesophageal reflux disease, involves changes in the tissue lining the esophagus.

Buerger’s disease refers to constriction of blood vessels caused by accumulation of nicotine.

Said the President: “It’s an acquired thing that you get from smoking because of nicotine. Nicotine constricts the vessel. Alcohol dilates the vessel.”

He said his doctor had advised him to undergo an operation to cure his spinal problem, but his partner, Honeylet Avanceña, a former nurse who worked in the United States, dissuaded him.