MEDJURIS Session 2.pdf

Obligation to provide competent medical care

What is the physician's legal undertaking under the contractual framework of Philippine civil law?

Article 1322 and Article 1307 of the New Civil Code

Which articles of the New Civil Code govern the civil contract created by the physician-patient relationship?

Onerous cause

Which cause of a medical contract requires the patient to deliver valuable consideration from their standpoint?

Legal tender (money) or in kind

In what two forms may payment be delivered under an onerous cause in Philippine law?

Agricultural produce, crops, or livestock

What forms of payment in kind are recognized as valid legal consideration in rural or provincial settings?

Remuneratory cause

Which cause of a medical contract represents compensation received by the physician specifically for labor, professional effort, and medical services?

Gratuitous cause (gratis et amore)

Which cause describes medical services rendered free of charge out of pure beneficence, liberality, consanguinity, affinity, or professional courtesy?

Consanguinity

What term refers to blood relation as a motivation for gratuitous care?

Affinity

What term refers to relation by marriage as a motivation for gratuitous care?

Innominate contract of facio ut des ("I do and you give")

In the absence of an express written fee agreement, under what type of contract does the physician-patient relationship operate under Article 1307?

Principle against unjust enrichment ("no one shall unjustly enrich himself at the expense of another")

Upon what foundational equity principle does the recovery of reasonable compensation under facio ut des rest?

Quantum meruit

What judicial award for reasonable medical honorarium is granted under facio ut des when no express fee was stipulated?

Independent of clinical result

How is a physician's right to compensation generally related to the clinical outcome or patient recovery?

Simple contractual fee

Which fee type is an express agreement stipulating the exact procedure and fixed financial consideration?

Retainer fee

Which fee type is a preliminary or fixed periodic fee paid to secure future availability and services, measured by time duration rather than quantity or quality of service?

Contingent fee

Which fee structure makes payment dependent upon achieving a specific favorable outcome or result?

Higher fees

What fee adjustment is legally recognized in contingent arrangements due to financial non-payment risk?

Dichotomous fee (commission / fee-splitting)

What is the unethical compensation given to a party for referring a patient, product, or medical service?

Straight fee (package deal agreement)

Which fee agreement is an all-inclusive fixed lump-sum payment covering professional, hospital, laboratory, surgical, and medication expenses?

Code of Medical Ethics

Under what rules are referral commissions, fee-splitting, and dichotomous fees classified as unethical conduct?

Creates an impermissible conflict of interest and degrades the medical calling

Why is accepting or demanding referral rebates prohibited?

Nine

How many jurisprudence-based criteria do courts evaluate when determining the reasonableness of unliquidated medical fees?

Amount and character of services

Which assessment factor considers the extent, nature, and frequency of clinical interventions rendered?

Labor, time, and trouble

Which assessment factor evaluates the duration of attention required and physical/mental exertion expended?

Nature and importance of the matter

Which assessment factor examines clinical severity, urgency, and underlying physiological value?

Responsibility imposed

Which assessment factor looks at the potential legal and financial exposure assumed by the practitioner?

Novelty and difficulty

Which assessment factor considers complexity and unique medical or surgical challenges?

Skill and experience required

Which factor assesses the advanced specialized training or expertise demanded?

Professional character and social standing

Which factor evaluates established reputation, academic rank, and prominence?

Results secured

Which factor looks at therapeutic outcome, life-saving measures achieved, or functional restoration?

Certainty or contingency of compensation

Which factor considers whether the fee was fixed or dependent on outcome?

Code of Professional Responsibility (Canon 20) governing attorney fees

What statutory benchmark is applied by analogy to assess reasonable medical honoraria?

Non-commercial learned professions governed by fiduciary duties

Why do courts treat professional fee disputes in law and medicine under identical equitable standards?

Billing method

What extrajudicial collection method involves the clinic secretary or hospital billing department presenting an itemized account?

Bill collection company

What third-party entity operating on a commission percentage may be engaged if a patient refuses voluntary settlement?

Action for collection of a sum of money

What civil action may a physician file in court if extrajudicial collection efforts fail?

Five

How many mandatory elements must a plaintiff-physician establish in court to secure a judgment for unpaid fees?

Valid physician-patient contract, valid medical license, completion of services, fee reasonableness, and legal liability of defendant

What are the five mandatory elements to prove in judicial collection of medical fees?

Article III of the 1987 Philippine Constitution

Where is the Bill of Rights codified in Philippine constitutional law?

Shield against coercive state power

What is the fundamental purpose of Article III for practitioners and patients?

Substantive due process

Which due process branch requires intrinsic validity and reasonableness of laws or regulations interfering with life, liberty, property, or public health?

Procedural due process

Which due process branch mandates procedural fairness and adherence to established modes of procedure before rights or licenses can be deprived?

Impartial court, jurisdiction, opportunity to be heard, and judgment after lawful hearing

What are the four requisites of judicial procedural due process?

Cold neutrality of an impartial judge

What essential judicial quality is required for due process in tribunal proceedings?

Seven

How many mandatory requisites of administrative procedural due process must be observed in PRC disciplinary actions against physicians?

Right to a hearing

Which administrative due process requisite guarantees presenting one's case and submitting supporting evidence?

Active consideration of evidence

Which administrative due process requisite obligates the tribunal to deliberate upon submitted evidence?

Factual support (substantiation)

Which administrative due process requisite renders a decision without factual support a nullity?

Substantial evidence

What quantum of evidence is defined as such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion?

Decision based strictly on the record

Which administrative due process requisite requires relying exclusively on evidence presented at the hearing or disclosed to parties?

Independent judgment

Which administrative due process requisite forbids merely deferring to subordinate recommendations?

Clear decision stating issues and reasons

Which administrative due process requisite requires disclosing the specific issues involved and reasons for conclusions reached?

Equal Protection Clause

Which constitutional guarantee requires that all individuals under similar circumstances be treated alike in privileges and liabilities?

Four

How many mandatory requisites make a legislative or administrative statutory classification valid under equal protection?

Substantial distinctions, germane to purpose of law, not limited to existing conditions, and equal application to all class members

What are the four requisites for a valid statutory classification?

Section 2, Article III

Which constitutional provision guarantees security of persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures?

"A man's house is his castle"

Which legal maxim protects private medical clinics and offices from warrantless state searches?

Four

How many requisites are required for the issuance of a valid search warrant?

Issued upon probable cause, personally determined by a judge, under oath/affirmation, and particularly describing place and things to be seized

What are the four requisites of a valid search warrant?

Probable cause

What is defined as facts and circumstances that would lead a reasonably discreet and prudent man to believe an offense was committed and objects are in the place to be searched?

Fruit of the Poisonous Tree Doctrine

Which constitutional rule renders evidence obtained in violation of search and seizure clauses completely inadmissible for any purpose?

Republic Act No. 4200 (Anti-Wire Tapping Act)

Which law penalizes secretly overhearing, intercepting, or recording private communications without all parties' consent?

Standard telephone extension phone

Which device is exempt from the Anti-Wire Tapping Act as not being a tapping device?

Inadmissible in evidence

What is the evidentiary status of clinic documents forcibly taken by one spouse from another's private clinic drawers?

Marital privileged communication

Which statutory rule under Rule 130 prevents either spouse from being examined without consent regarding confidential communications during marriage?

Section 5, Article III

Which constitutional provision guarantees the free exercise of religion?

Competent adult patient of majority age and sound mind

Who holds the absolute right to decline life-saving medical treatment on religious grounds?

Parens patriae

Under what state protective authority can courts override parental religious objections to life-saving treatment for a minor?

DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development)

Which agency may be granted temporary custody by court order to give legal consent for a minor's life-saving blood transfusion?

Section 4, Article III

Which section protects freedom of speech and advocacy, guaranteeing physicians the right to publicly discuss medical issues?

Section 10, Article III

Which provision protects valid medical service contracts from legislative non-impairment?

Eminent domain (Section 9)

Which constitutional clause prohibits taking private medical clinics or equipment for public use without just compensation and public purpose?

Free access to courts (Section 11)

Which constitutional provision ensures indigent patients are not denied court access due to poverty?

Miranda rights (Section 12)

Which constitutional rights guarantee an accused physician the right to remain silent and secure independent counsel?

Right against self-incrimination (Section 17)

Which constitutional right grants immunity from forced self-incriminating testimony?

Presumption of innocence (Section 14)

Which constitutional protection guarantees innocence until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt?

Statutory privilege granted by the State subject to police power

What is the legal nature of the practice of medicine in the Philippines?

Five

How many primary sources form the hierarchy of physician rights and duties?

Invocation, Obligations and Prohibitions, and the Curse

What are the three structural elements of the Hippocratic Oath?

Section 21, paragraph (12) of Republic Act 2382 (Medical Act of 1959)

Under which statute and section is the PRC Board of Medicine Code of Ethics enforceable?

Unethical and unprofessional conduct

How are violations of the PRC Board of Medicine Code of Ethics categorized, grounding administrative license reprimand, suspension, or revocation?

Ethics Committee investigation -> Board of Governors approval -> endorsement to PRC

What is the internal administrative governance process of the PMA Code of Ethics?

General rule on refusal

What rule states that a physician is not bound to accept every patient who seeks services?

Republic Act 8344 (Anti-Hospital Deposit / Emergency Refusal Law)

Which law criminalizes demanding advance cash deposits or refusing initial emergency medical stabilization in ER settings?

Section 24 of Republic Act 2382

Which statutory provision grants a physician an administrative defense for refusing care if attending poses a direct threat to their own life?

Real personal peril (e.g. active gunfire, physical peril, or hazardous infectious exposure without protective gear)

What condition justifies a physician's refusal to attend to a patient in danger of death under Section 24 of RA 2382?

Medical specialty, geography, clinic location, and office hours

By what parameters may a physician restrict their right to limit practice?

Patient waiver, judicial order, or common public good (e.g. reportable infectious diseases)

In what three situations may confidential patient information be lawfully disclosed?

Physician or hospital

Who holds legal ownership of original medical records and X-ray films?

Access, explanations, and photocopies upon request

What rights do patients have regarding their medical records held by a facility?

Libel or slander actions

What judicial remedies are available under a physician's right to protect reputation against unfounded defamatory attacks?

Color-coding scheme and minor traffic infractions during genuine medical emergencies

From what traffic restrictions are physicians exempt when responding to emergencies?

Ethical abuse

How is misusing PMA or PRC IDs to evade routine traffic fines categorized?

Subordinate to medical service

How must financial gain be viewed in relation to the medical calling according to the PRC Code?

Rule 39, Section 13(g) of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure

Which procedural rule exempts a physician's professional equipment and library from post-judgment execution?

₱300,000.00

What is the maximum monetary limit for property exemption of professional tools and libraries?

Instruments used in committing a crime (e.g. abortion equipment)

What instruments are strictly excluded from execution exemption?

City Health Officer

What public position is an example of a specialized health role requiring medical licensure?

Licensed pathologist, or a physician/municipal health officer certified or trained to do so

Who is legally qualified to perform exclusive autopsy services?

Four core duties

How many primary duties to patients are established under Philippine case law jurisprudence?