In the latest update from the family whose son, Ang Yong Han, died from dengue fever, the father told the media that he has sought a lawyer to sue Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) for negligence.
According to a posting on Wanbao’s Facebook page today (1 Jun), Yong Han’s father felt indignant over the sudden death of his son. He felt that his son had died needlessly. He told Wanbao that he had already sought a lawyer to sue TTSH for negligence:
Yong Han, the only child in the family, fell ill on Wed (22 May) with a high fever. He then went to TTSH’s emergency department the next day (23 May, Thu) and was diagnosed with viral fever. However, he was given Panadol tablets and sent home. He was told to see a doctor in three days’ time, or to return if his condition worsened.
However his condition did not improve and went back again in the wee hours of Fri (24 May). The mother, Mdm Yap, told the media that after waiting for five hours, he left to go to a general practitioner near his home.
But TTSH said he arrived at 3am and was seen by a nurse within five minutes but didn’t get to see a doctor after waiting for more than two hours. The hospital said he approached a nurse at 5.18am to cancel his registration, and left.
Around Sat midnight (25 May) and in the early hours of Sun (26 May), Yong Han came back to TTSH with fever, body aches and vomiting and was finally admitted to TTSH. He was later transferred to the Communicable Diseases Centre (CDC).
He died three days later (29 May, Wed) of dengue shock syndrome.
When the family asked whether Yong Han could have been saved if he had been admitted to hospital earlier, Associate Professor Lim Poh Lian, head of infectious diseases at TTSH, said that his condition deteriorated on Mon, and it would not have made any difference if he had been admitted to the hospital a day or two earlier.
TR Emeritus
*Article first appeared on www.TREmeritus.com