UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Last weekend, we attended a wake-for an 18-year-old boy. After expressing our condolences to the bereaved family, conversation turned to what happened. It was apparently a suicide. He had just become another statistic for this fast-growing phenomenon. A report said teen...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE This may seem to come across as johnny-come-lately, as a lot has been said and written about the award-winning film GomBurZa. Well, I saw this movie on the second-to-the last-day of the Metro Manila film Festival, mainly because we were busy with get-togethers during the...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Autopsia (Ancient Greek) — to see for oneself. Most people think of autopsies only in terms of forensics, having been indoctrinated by television shows like “CSI.” Those are forensic autopsies, which determine causes of unnatural deaths — suicide, homicide, accidents,...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE On Dec. 1, 2023, the Bayanihan Covid-19 Laboratory Network Recognition Ceremony was held in Makati City. There, we from the Philippine Childrens Medical Center (PCMC) had a reunion of sorts with fellow Covid-19 testing-laboratory staffs from all over the Philippines, whom we...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Recently, I attended an HLA (Human Leucocyte Antigens) conference in connection with organ transplantation, both solid organ and stem cell. The common lament was that in the Philippines, very few deceased-donor organ donations are made. In fact, it is...
UNDER THE MICRCOSCOPE Two weeks after my column (Sad day for doctors, sadder still for patients, Oct. 31, 2023) detailed the tragic conviction and death during incarceration of Iggy Agbayani, the issue continues to simmer. Coincidentally, a business newspaper columnist also discussed the Iggy case...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Recently, House Bill 8820, titled “An Act Promoting the Adequate Supply of Blood Plasma, Authorizing the Collection, Storage, and Commercial Distribution of Blood Plasma and for Other Purposes,” was filed in the House of Representatives, which will allow commercial...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Once again, we have sensational news, this time of a schoolboy dying 11 days after allegedly being slapped by his teacher. Media went to town, and law enforcement officials are all over the newspapers, radio, and TV, being interviewed and offering their take on the matter, all...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Rabies is the most dreaded zoonotic disease that kills its victims with 100 percent efficiency. The Philippines’ rabies death toll is 250–300 cases a year. Rabies patients suffer a most horrible death. The facts justify the intense fear that grip animal-bite victims...
Looks like Andrea Brillantes finally found a replacement for Ricci Rivero. No other than actress Ina Raymundo's hunky son, Jakob. Andrea made public her admiration for Jakob via her vlog recently. Playing the "Date Or Pass" game with some friends, she candidly admitted to being open to dating...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Now that the state of public health emergency has been lifted in the Philippines (a full two months after WHO declared an end to the Covid international health emergency), we can now heave a big sigh of relief. But not so fast, pardner! The next pandemic is just around the...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE The recommendation of the Ombudsman review panel to file graft and technical malversation charges against former DOH Secretary and current Congressperson Dr. Janette Garin and four others for the purchase of Dengvaxia vaccines is truly puzzling and contradictory. The panel...
