Singapore portal pulls down Johor report, offers apology

The link to an article alleging that treatment had been withheld on a Singaporean in Johor was apparently removed following the Malaysian health department disproving the claims.

PETALING JAYA: A Singapore-based news portal that ran a report alleging lateness in response and withholding of treatment by Johor medical authorities on a Singaporean who had met with an accident there has apparently removed the online article, replacing it with a brief apology.

The link to the report titled “25-year-old Singaporean dies after Malaysian hospital demanded cash payment before treatment” published on Aug 31 on The Independent was found today to show the heading “We’re Sorry!”

It was accompanied by a notice from the publisher that read: “We unreservedly apologise to the parties concerned for the anguish and distress this incident has caused.”

On Sept 1, Health Department Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had responded to the report by saying computerised ambulance service records revealed it took only 13 minutes from the time the emergency call was made to the time the ambulance arrived at the scene on Aug 25.

He said Justinian Tan who had been hit by a car was admitted to Hospital Sultanah Aminah’s (HSA) Red Zone upon arrival and given emergency treatment immediately.

The emergency department team, he said, also conducted X-rays and a CT-scan without asking for any deposit, contrary to what was alleged, in view of the fact it was an emergency.

Tan was also referred to the neurosurgery team without any demand for payment due to the injury to his brain, Nor Hisham said.

“Only when the family members arrived were they asked to proceed with payment of the imaging amounting to RM 2,575. However, the family members opted for discharge at own risk (AOR discharge) and arranged for admission to a hospital in Singapore after understanding the risk involved in further delaying the surgery,” he said.

Tan passed away in Singapore later that day.

In The Independent’s report, Tan’s friends were quoted as saying that authorities were slow to respond, with the ambulance arriving only after 30 minutes despite the accident site being just 5km or nine minutes’ drive away according to Google Maps.

Upon Tan’s arrival at HSA, preliminary medical scans were withheld until friends and family offered to pay cash up-front, it was claimed.

The allegations spread in other online media after they were published by the portal, provoking netizens to heap criticism against the ambulance service providers and the hospital staff in Johor.

Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam had on Friday said Putrajaya would file a formal complaint with Singapore over the “very serious allegations” made in the report.

He said the ministry would also consult its lawyers about possible legal action as the allegations had hurt the country’s image.

Also on Friday, one of Tan’s friends, Joshua de Rozario, said he was not accusing or disputing anyone following the health department’s disproving of the reported claims.

He said there could have been a communication breakdown when treatment was being administered at the emergency unit as he and his friends did not speak Malay, and the hospital staff spoke little English. - FMT

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