DOH: Doctors should unite after Agbayani’s death

MANILA, Philippines — Health Secretary Ted Herbosa yesterday called on the medical community to unite following the conviction and death behind bars of orthopedic surgeon Dr. Benigno Agbayani Jr.

“Keep this conversation going for clarity and policy,” Herbosa said, as he urged doctors to make noise so that people would be aware of what happened to Agbayani.

In a Change.org petition, a doctors’ group said Agbayani had been “wrongly accused and convicted” after a patient complained of post-operative site infection.

Saul Hofileña Jr., a lawyer who graduated from the Ateneo College of Law in 1985, complained in 2006 that the tool Agbayani used during surgery on his knee was unsterilized, resulting in an infection that incapacitated him for 30 days and further led to a hand injury that forced him to use a cane.

Hofileña recovered from the surgery, court records showed.

The Supreme Court’s Third Division dismissed Agbayani’s petition for review and upheld his conviction by the Metropolitan Trial Court and the Court of Appeals in 2021.

On May 25, he was arrested and sent to the Manila City Jail, where the 58-year-old doctor died of a heart attack on Oct. 5.

In a Facebook post on Nov. 3, Agbayani’s relatives showed a copy of court records indicating that a clinical pathologist, who testified for the prosecution in 2009, stated that the late doctor’s negligence could not be established.

“The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) needs to represent us,” Herbosa said.

In an earlier statement, the PMA said “it is regrettable that Agbayani died while serving his sentence in prison and still in the course of exploring his options to help clear his name.”