GEORGE TOWN, Sept 17 — The distraught mother of a 19-year-old student who died of tuberculosis (TB) last month has accused the Penang Hospital of incompetence resulting in her death.
Vivian Teoh, 47, who was sobbing as she berated Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye, said no amount of apologies will do any good at this point.
“Even if the whole Emergency Department apologise to us, it will be useless. My daughter is gone, can you bring her back? Can you compensate me by returning my daughter to me?” she demanded in between sobs when meeting with Dr Lee at the Penang Hospital here today.
She told Dr Lee that her daughter had been an active and brilliant student with good results in all of her school examinations and had been due to sit for her STPM examinations soon.
“Now, she’s gone, all those people who failed to treat her and help her have wronged her, her life was cut short just like this,” she said.
Teoh’s daughter, Carmen Yee, 19, was first brought to the Accident and Emergency Department of the Penang Hospital on August 23 with reported coughing and blood in her sputum.
She was sent home that night and told to return “if she vomited blood” but on the next day, she was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.
Yee died on August 27 from active TB infection.
In a press conference earlier, Dr Lee said the Health Ministry will set up an independent investigation of the case.
He said the ministry will decide when to start the investigations in two weeks time.
“The investigations will look at all aspects of the case including the treatments rendered to the patient and any possibility of negligence,” he said after holding a meeting with the Penang Hospital staff, specialists and Yee’s family members.
He said the investigation will take one or two months to complete.
Dr Lee said the independent investigations will be headed by the ministry and will involve specialists on public health and TB.
He said Yee’s parents and brother were tested for TB infection and all were negative.
He said all 373 students in Yee’s school, SMJK Heng Ee, were also tested for TB.
“Out of the 373 tested, 82 had X-Rays done and 33 were suspected to have latent TB infection,” he said.
Latent TB infection meant the person has the TB bacteria but the body is able to fight its spread internally.
People with latent TB are asymptomatic and not contagious.
“It was only those with active TB infection who can spread the TB bacteria which travels through the air,” Dr Lee said.
He said those with latent TB will be treated and everyone who has been in contact with Yee will need to go for another TB screening in two years to make sure they were not infected with latent TB.
He assured the public that the episode was contained and there was no outbreak.
Nationally, between 25,000 and 26,000 TB cases are recorded annually, with a 6 per cent mortality rate.
A total 24,739 TB cases were recorded in 2016, a total 26,168 cases in 2017 and 25,837 cases in 2018.
“There was a drop in 2018 and out of 25,837 cases, there were 2,184 deaths,” he said.
He said TB is treatable and advised those with symptoms such as persistent cough and blood in the sputum to seek immediate medical attention.
