Also known as "The Black Suede Video Scandal", this is the story of one patient’s struggle against medical impropriety and injustice.

I have great respect for doctors, and everybody else in the medical profession. I admire their skill, patience and dedication to their job. I have seen how some have neglected even their families in the pursuit of selfless service. As I child, I even dreamed of becoming a doctor myself, saving lives, helping the poor and wearing that immaculate white robe with a stethoscope slung around my neck! He he. Such are the aspirations of a child. Alas, hemophobia (fear of blood) got in the way! As always, there are bad apples in every basket, and the following news story illustrates how some in the medical profession can be the exact opposite of a wide-eyed child’s ideals.

I saw it in the news last night (or was it the day before?). A patient is currently up in arms after a video of his sensitive anal operation (dubbed "The Black Suede Video") surfaced on YouTube, and lately, it's being passed from phone to phone. What aggravates the matter is not only this breach of privacy but the operating staff’s evident insensitivity as witnessed in the clip. Doctors, nurses and, allegedly, even nursing students can be seen laughing during the operation, and to a certain point, making fun of the patient. Read this news article for a better understanding of the issue:

A 39-year-old homosexual is planning to sue a medical team after he saw in a cellular phone of a friend last Friday a circulated video footage of the operation to extract a perfume canister stuck in his anus during a sexual act.

The operation on the man, who only wants to be identified as “Jan-Jan,” was done at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) last Jan. 3 yet, but the video footage has been circulating through cell phones since then and was even uploaded in the video-sharing web site, YouTube.

“I trusted them. And yet they ridiculed me behind my back…Was that something a professional would do? I can’t even walk the streets without being laughed at by neighbors. I want my ordeal to end. And I hope it doesn’t happen to anyone else,” Jan-Jan told Sun.Star Cebu in Cebuano.

The video that runs for two minutes and 28 seconds shows an operating team of more than 10 people laughing, with someone shouting instructions while the operation was going on.

It captures individuals with mobile phones and cameras taking footage of the operation. A brief panning motion shows some of the faces of the people involved in the procedure.

Loud cheering and shouting can be heard as the canister that someone describes as a “baby” is slowly pulled out of the anus. One of the staff even opens the perfume and sprays it around.

All the time, the patient whose face is not visible in the video, is unconscious. (Continue with the remainder of the report here.)

I have seen the video when some of its portions were shown on the evening news but I haven’t bothered to view it in its entirety at YouTube. Besides being gross, it is utterly degrading for the patient (victim). For the same reason, forgive me for not putting its link in this post.

Some people in the message boards find this whole issue funny, poking fun at how that bottle (can?) got in there. How insensitive of them! Besides, that’s not the issue here. To make fun of a patient (or any person for that matter) is not only insensitive, it is likewise demeaning. To record it for posterity, publicize it in the internet and pass it on through mobile phone technology makes the medical staff totally irresponsible and worse, inhuman. This just shows how unethical some of our medical professionals are, showing complete disrespect for the patient's right to privacy. And to think that the patient gave them his full confidence and trust that he would be in good hands!

I read the following comment in the forums: “Can anyone now blame Terri Hatcher and the ‘Desperate Housewives’ scriptwriters for that controversial remark (about Philippine med schools) some months back?” Somehow, I agree. (Image courtesy of http://www.luc.edu/)

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