The Commonwealth Health Center has stopped performing non-emergent surgeries since Aug. 16 in the wake of a Superior Court finding that provisions of the Government Liability Act are unconstitutional.<\/p>\n
Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. chief executive officer Esther L. Mu\u00f1a notified the Office of Attorney General last week that the hospital would stop performing non-emergent surgical procedures starting last Tuesday, Aug. 16, until the Superior Court finding is overturned.<\/p>\n
Emergent care is usually defined to mean an immediate threat to a person\u2019s life, a threat of grave disability, and active childbirth. Non-emergent care is usually everything else.<\/p>\n
In a declaration last Thursday, Mu\u00f1a said she was advised by the OAG of the implications of the court\u2019s ruling as it relates to CHCC\u2019s physicians, including those who perform surgical procedures.<\/p>\n
Muna said she was advised that the court\u2019s opinion could lead to a surgeon being denied government\u2019s substitution as defendant if sued with respect to a surgery performed in the scope of his or her job.<\/p>\n
Under the ruling, in the event a surgeon is found liable, he or she would only be able to expect indemnification by the government if the Legislature makes an appropriation.<\/p>\n
Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho issued the ruling in connection with the malpractice lawsuit filed by couple Remedio Elameto and Pedro Pua against the CNMI government and doctors Gary Ramsey and Rajee Iyer.<\/p>\n
Camacho\u2019s order, dated Aug. 11, 2017, invalidates the substitution provisions of the Government Liability Act.<\/p>\n
Camacho ruled that the Government Liability Act\u2019s damages cap, substitution provision, prohibition on punitive damages, and restriction on the availability of jury trials fail constitutional examination.<\/p>\n
Mu\u00f1a issued the declaration in support of the OAG\u2019s and Ramsey\u2019s request for the Superior Court\u2019s to stay the case, pending their appeal of Camacho\u2019s ruling to the CNMI Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
Mu\u00f1a said that medical malpractice insurance is not available in the Commonwealth, apparently because the size of the medical community in the CNMI is \u201ctoo small to create a sufficient risk pool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mu\u00f1a met with CHCC\u2019s surgical staff last Aug. 14 and informed them of the court\u2019s decision and that the surgical staff indicated they were unwilling to perform surgical procedures as the risk of personal liability is too great without protection.<\/p>\n
CHC is the only hospital and surgical facility on Saipan. <\/p>\n
Without willing surgeons, the delivery of healthcare in the Commonwealth is and will be severely impaired, and life and limb are in danger as a result of the court\u2019s ruling, Mu\u00f1a said. <\/p>\n
Assistant attorney general Charles E. Brasington, counsel for the government, and Colin M. Thompson, counsel for Ramsey, said the Commonwealth requires action to be taken immediately to prevent the cessation of surgical procedures at CHC.<\/p>\n
Brasington and Thompson said Ramsey requires action before Aug. 24, 2017, to prevent the burdens of litigation imposed by the denial of substitution from occurring.<\/p>\n
Last Aug. 17, the Commonwealth filed an interlocutory appeal before the high court to secure appellate review of Camacho\u2019s order.<\/p>\n
Brasington and Thompson said the application of the right to privacy to medical malpractice suits is a serious and novel issue, with significant constitutional dimensions.<\/p>\n
The lawyers said the hardships faced by defendants\u2014the reduced access to healthcare for the CNMI people and the loss of absolute immunity by Ramsey\u2014sharply outweigh the burden of delay that Elameto and Pua would face.<\/p>\n
Camacho issued an order last Aug. 18 setting for Aug. 28 at 1:30pm the hearing on defendants\u2019 request to immediately conduct a hearing on their joint motion.<\/p>\n
Camacho said the government\u2019s declaration states that medical malpractice insurance may be needed and the court notes this may be an interim economic hardship.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Camacho said, the government\u2019s declaration states that CHC doctors will continue to perform emergency operations.<\/p>\n
The judge said he recognizes this economic hardship and balances it with the CNMI constitutional rights of Elameto and Pua.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is important to not just get a quick solution, but also a correction solution and that is why the court is asking both parties to submit briefs,\u201d Camacho said.<\/p>\n
Elameto and Pua are suing the CNMI government and two former CHC doctors\u2014Iyer and Ramsey\u2014for medical malpractice, bad faith, and emotional distress and loss of consortium. <\/p>\n
Elameto claimed that a surgical team at CHC left a 15-centimeter-long surgical clamp in her abdomen during a surgery to address her irregular periods and ovarian cysts at CHC on Saipan in August 2000.<\/p>\n
It was in June 2014, or almost 14 years later, when the surgical clamp was discovered and removed at Guam Memorial Hospital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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