Clinic’s management offers to reimburse medical costs of toddler prescribed overdose of cough syrup

The management group of the Bedok clinic accused of prescribing an overdose of cough syrup to a 14-month-old baby, causing the child to fall unconscious, has apologised over the matter and has offered to cover the medical costs of the child.

Berlinda Lum, the mother of the baby, alleged last week that the clinic, YSL Bedok Clinic & Surgery, had prescribed that Lum feed her baby 10ml of the cough syrup which she did. When the child fell unconscious, Lum rushed her child to Gleneagles Hospital where doctors found that the child had overdosed on codeine – an opiate found in Fedac cough syrup.

The baby only regained consciousness a full day later.

When Lum called the Bedok clinic, she was allegedly asked “So what do you want us to do now?”

When she subsequently visited the clinic in person, she was apparently told by the doctor that the correct dosage for her child should have been 2.5ml, thrice a day – this is four time more than what was printed on the label of the cough syrup.

In a media statement, Qualitas Medical Group, the group managing YSL Bedok Clinic & Surgery said:

“We have been in contact with the child’s parents.

“The management of Qualitas would like to apologise to the family for any distress that they went through.

“Qualitas has out of goodwill offered to reimburse the child’s parents for all medical bills incurred as a result of this unfortunate incident. We invite the patient to our Paediatrics unit in Singapore for further reviews.

“Qualitas has assembled a team to ensure that its safety procedures are reviewed and enforced.

“Qualitas’ priority is to provide quality healthcare, where the patient’s health is of upmost importance to us. We continuously strive to improve our services offered to our patients and customers at our clinics.

“We want the best for our patients and are relieved to hear that the infant has since recovered. We will continue to engage with the parents and wish the patient well.”

https://theindependent.sg.sg/1-year-old-baby-overdoses-on-cough-medicine-after-bedok-clinic-gives-wrong-prescription/