A widely followed Filipino physician has weighed in on Senator Jinggoy Estrada’s reliance on osteoarthritis to avoid personal court appearances, saying the joint condition can usually be managed without hospital confinement.
Dr. Carlo Trinidad, a nephrologist known online as “Kidney MD,” made the remarks on Thursday, June 5, in a Facebook post shared alongside an ABS-CBN news report on Estrada’s case. He described osteoarthritis as a slow, progressive, and degenerative joint disease that can be managed in outpatient clinics, noting that some 4.2 million Filipinos live with the condition and that not all of them need to be admitted to a hospital.
Trinidad laid out the limited circumstances in which a short hospital stay may be warranted: patients undergoing elective joint replacement, such as a total knee arthroplasty; those who can no longer walk because of severe pain that cannot be controlled with oral pain relievers and who may need a few days of intravenous NSAIDs; patients with septic arthritis requiring IV antibiotics; and those with other serious illnesses requiring inpatient care.
His comments came a day after Estrada’s June 4 arraignment before the Sandiganbayan Second Division on a graft charge tied to the flood control projects scandal. Estrada attended by videoconference, with his lawyer, Atty. Noel Ostrea, telling the court the senator suffers from osteoarthritis in both knees. During the hearing, Estrada asked to be briefly excused because of pain.
The court denied Estrada’s motion to quash the case and entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf after he declined to plead. Ostrea has said the senator also has joint effusion, a buildup of fluid in the knee, and that his camp is studying a motion for hospital arrest. Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla earlier said Estrada had raised the need for knee replacement surgery when weighing whether to surrender.
Estrada and former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan are accused of collecting commitment fees from flood control contractors. The pair also face plunder and a separate graft charge before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division, the case that led to Estrada’s detention.
