Cops have no case yet vs lipo clinic team, lawyer argues

The legal counsel of the medical team who operated on Shiryl Saturnino, the businesswoman who died after undergoing cosmetic surgery in a Mandaluyong City clinic, maintained that the police could not press charges without complete postmortem findings.

Without the results of the histopathological examination on the deceased, authorities “can’t establish a case” yet against the two doctors and three nurses who attended to the 29-year-old Saturnino, lawyer Estelita Cordero said in an interview on Friday night.

Cordero was reacting to pronouncements from a police official that charges for reckless imprudence resulting in homicide would be filed next week against the personnel of The Icon Clinic.

Senior Supt. Marcelino Pedrozo, head of the special task force formed to investigate the Saturnino case, earlier cited autopsy results showing that Saturnino died of “multiple organ failure secondary to complications” from her March 26 surgeries. The operations involved surgeon Dr. Samuel Eric Yapjuangco, anesthesiologist Dr. Jose Jovito Mendiola, and nurses Virgil Alec Ongleo, Alvin Carl Genove and Audrey Michelle Santos.

But Cordero said these findings on the cause of Saturnino’s death were “questionable” and “debatable,” especially since the results of her histopathological examination—which looks for signs of disease—had yet to be released.

“How can the autopsy report indicate that [she died of] complications due to the operation when there are no histopathological examination results yet that would establish the cause of death? That’s why we’re waiting for the results, and we’ve been told that we have to wait for at least two months,” she said.

Since the body would still need a curing period, expediting the process would not yield conclusive findings, she said.

Earlier reports quoting the police said Saturnino underwent three operations on the same day—liposuction, and breast and butt surgeries. But Cordero maintained that the businesswoman only had a minor and a major operation. She declined to give further details, citing patient confidentiality.

On Wednesday, Mandaluyong Mayor Menchie Abalos issued a cease and desist order against the clinic, citing inconsistencies in its documents. The Icon Clinic management was given 72 hours to explain after it was found to have listed another entity, The Managed Care Philippines Inc., as owner.

The clinic, located on Shaw Boulevard, was also found to be lacking a permit from the Department of Health (DOH) to conduct ambulatory surgical services.

Cordero admitted that The Icon Clinic did not have such a DOH permit and that only its partner, The Managed Care Philippines Inc., had the needed accreditation.

But she stressed that “there’s no irregularity” since this kind of arrangement had been a “common practice in the medical field,” similar to doctors having clinics in a hospital.