By RIC OBEDENCIO & ROGER BALAMAD

Was it a case of medical theft or express consent on the part of the parents who cried foul upon learning that their two-month old tot lost her heart when embalmed? Despite justifications from doctors of the Gov. Gallares Memorial Hospital that tacit approval was in order in the case of the baby girl who died on September 23 due to pneumonia, the parents identified as Cresenciano Lamoste, Jr., 26 and Adelyn Gonzales, 21, all residents of Maribojoc town expressed shock that their dead was harvested of her heart. The case of the little girl with a missing heart jolted the normally religious Boholano community after the sordid episode broke out in the open courtesy of the embalmer.

In a sworn affidavit, the licensed embalmer identified as Gelfon Dano, 27, of Ubujan district, this city, declared that he was surprised to discover the body of Creslyn Lamoste to have lost her vital organ. Working at the Rodan Memorial Funeral Homes in Sta. Cruz, Calape town, the embalmer said that when he cut the suture from the esophagus area down to the navel area and looked for the aortic artery to connect the arterial tube and pump the formalin solution, he discovered that the cadaver had no heart already.

In her own narration, the victim's mother told lawyer Salva Diputado that while at the hospital, one of the female attending physicians asked for her permission for the conduct of an autopsy examination but she refused because she has no money for the procedure. Diputado assisted the couple in filing a case against the suspect or suspects. The couple also sought the help of the National Bureau of Investigation in Cebu to ferret out the truth regarding the missing heart. When told by the female physician that the autopsy was for free, the mother yielded to the request. Then she signed a document which she did not bother to ask what it was all about. It was surmised that the document she purportedly signed was a waiver signifying consent to the autopsy.

WHY THE AUTOPSY

After a long while, a doctor of the Gallares Memorial Hospital broke his silence surrounding the mystery of the missing heart. Dr. Edgar Pizarras, hospital spokesman, explained the need for an autopsy of the  two-month old baby girl who died of severe pneumonia.  Pizarras said the baby Lamoste was admitted at the hospital on Sept. 21, 2009 and she died at around 7:35 AM or two days after due to what he called “pediatric community acquired pneumonia D, sepsis.” The baby girl had also suffered from “severe malnutrition,” he added. The death certificate issued on September 23, 2009 was signed by Catherine H. Operario, M. D., medical officer III of the hospital. The document was received by her grandmother Olympia Lamoste.

According to Pizarras, the autopsy was done in a legal manner because the mother of the baby had given consent in a signed document to the doctor or pathologist, who did the autopsy. Pizarras refused to name the doctor or pathologist who removed the baby's heart. He also confirmed that the doctor or doctors who did the autopsy had taken samples or specimens from the baby's kidney, liver, and lungs. Justifying the act, the hospital doctor said it was standard operating procedure when specimens were taken from the cadaver when autopsied considering that GCGMH is a training hospital. He said as part of the hospital's training program, gathering specimens is a must for a training facility like the GCGMH or any government-run hospital to sustain or maintain its status and accreditation. He said that the parents were apprised when they signed the consent for the autopsy procedure. But he said that the way it was explained about the procedure may not be thoroughly elaborated especially the taking of the vital organ like the heart of the baby girl.