MOH investigating clinic that allegedly caused 14-month-old boy to overdose on cough medicine

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health is investigating YSL Bedok Clinic and Surgery, following media reports that the clinic had apparently inappropriately dispensed cough medicine to a child.

On Wednesday (Nov 29), the MOH said it is “aware of the incident involving a clinic allegedly inappropriately dispensing cough medicine to a child” and added that it “takes a serious view of such matters and is investigating the clinic in question and its licensee”.

According to earlier media reports, a 14-month-old boy was allegedly prescribed four times the dosage of a cough medication for his age by a doctor at the clinic.

The boy’s mother, who goes by the moniker Belinda Lum, had subsequently rushed her child to hospital after a suspected overdose.

She also started a campaign on Give.asia, where she recounted her experience with the clinic in detail.

Ms Lum said the boy had been coughing, and she had taken him to YSL Bedok Clinic and Surgery last Wednesday (Nov 22). They were seen by a doctor and given a bottle of Fedac syrup, with instructions to take 10ml of the medicine three times a day.

Writing on the popular fundraising site, Ms Lum wrote: “However, this is the start of my nightmare, as after we went home, and feeding him with the medicine, he was completely (knocked) out, which I thought was normal.”

Ms Lum then suspected that her son was suffering from an overdose and rushed him to Gleneagles Hospital.

Ms Lum also wrote: “Upon closer inspection, his prescription was supposed to be 2.5ml, three times a day.” However, according to pictures of the cough syrup prescribed to Ms Lum’s child, it was written that the syrup should be taken in 10ml doses, three times a day.

She added that her son woke up a day later on Nov 23 and still felt a bit drowsy. “I’ve also taken the liberty to speak to the Singapore Medical Council,” wrote Ms Lum on the site.

The Singapore Medical Council, which regulates doctors, said it has not received a formal complaint about the case although a phone inquiry was made. “We are unable to comment if there have been any lapses by the doctor without conducting a thorough investigation after receiving the complaint,” said the council.

According to the Health Sciences Authority’s website, Fedac in tablet or syrup form should not be given to children under the age of two.

Responding to queries from TODAY, the parent company of the clinic, Qualitas Medical Group, said that its management has 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,” said a spokesperson.

Qualitas has also offered to reimburse Ms Lum for all medical bills incurred. “We invite the patient to our Paediatrics unit in Singapore for further reviews,” she added.

On the Give.asia site, Ms Lum clarified that she had started an online appeal to encourage people to share her story on the site and Facebook to raise awareness of the incident. She donated S$1 for each share to three charities. The campaign raised S$300 and closed three days ago, which means it can no longer be shared on the site. The stated number of Facebook shares was 33.