OPINION
Advocates Philippines
The Chilling Effect On Care: How Harassment Undermines Doctors And Patients
Never in Philippine medical history have doctors faced such sustained harassment, intimidation, and coercion as they do today. A small but noisy cohort of so-called pundits, columnists, and legal personalities—often well funded and carefully coordinated—cloak their campaigns in the language of “protecting the poor,” while repeatedly bullying physicians.
In a rare show of unity, medical and surgical societies have condemned the unverified, unfounded claims of a notorious non-author against a Philippine Heart Center surgeon. Such attacks do not only tarnish individual reputations; they also erode public trust in the medical profession. On social media, unscrupulous actors game algorithms, engage in selective editing, and circulate doctored screenshots to paint physicians as unethical or corrupt. The harm goes beyond reputations, seeping into patient confidence and treatment choices. Personal attacks that invade privacy and threaten security have driven many doctors out of public discourse.
The consequences are real. When trust frays, doctors retreat into defensive medicine—ordering more tests or avoiding innovative therapies to stave off scrutiny. Patients delay consultations or doubt recommended treatments. The relationship at the heart of care—the doctor–patient bond—weakens, along with the wider health-care system.
The recent incident is only a symptom of a deeper problem: the hegemonic influence of Big Pharma. Moving swiftly to consolidate market power, some firms seek to shape policy and public debate on drug pricing and access—often under the banner of “innovation” while prioritizing profit. Public-relations campaigns have been weaponized to undermine physicians, frequently with little or no substantiation, exploiting the public’s naiveté to cast doubt on doctors’ ethics and the integrity of clinical decisions.
This is not merely a reputational issue; it is clinical. When propaganda overwhelms facts, patients receive worse care, physicians practice defensively, and confidence in both doctors and the health-care system erodes.
Worse, market giants may also target smaller competitors at the edges of the industry, deploying coercive tactics—from aggressive litigation to the enlistment of legal personalities and columnists—to portray rivals as reckless and unethical. The result is a chilling effect: less competition, fewer choices, and, ultimately, harm to patients.
Defending evidence-based medicine, due process, and professional dignity is not special pleading for doctors; it is a public-health imperative.
In a rare show of unity, medical and surgical societies have condemned the unverified, unfounded claims of a notorious non-author against a Philippine Heart Center surgeon. Such attacks do not only tarnish individual reputations; they also erode public trust in the medical profession. On social media, unscrupulous actors game algorithms, engage in selective editing, and circulate doctored screenshots to paint physicians as unethical or corrupt. The harm goes beyond reputations, seeping into patient confidence and treatment choices. Personal attacks that invade privacy and threaten security have driven many doctors out of public discourse.
The consequences are real. When trust frays, doctors retreat into defensive medicine—ordering more tests or avoiding innovative therapies to stave off scrutiny. Patients delay consultations or doubt recommended treatments. The relationship at the heart of care—the doctor–patient bond—weakens, along with the wider health-care system.
The recent incident is only a symptom of a deeper problem: the hegemonic influence of Big Pharma. Moving swiftly to consolidate market power, some firms seek to shape policy and public debate on drug pricing and access—often under the banner of “innovation” while prioritizing profit. Public-relations campaigns have been weaponized to undermine physicians, frequently with little or no substantiation, exploiting the public’s naiveté to cast doubt on doctors’ ethics and the integrity of clinical decisions.
This is not merely a reputational issue; it is clinical. When propaganda overwhelms facts, patients receive worse care, physicians practice defensively, and confidence in both doctors and the health-care system erodes.
Worse, market giants may also target smaller competitors at the edges of the industry, deploying coercive tactics—from aggressive litigation to the enlistment of legal personalities and columnists—to portray rivals as reckless and unethical. The result is a chilling effect: less competition, fewer choices, and, ultimately, harm to patients.
Defending evidence-based medicine, due process, and professional dignity is not special pleading for doctors; it is a public-health imperative.
Aug 11, 2025
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