Did Johor's Govt Hospital Demand Payment Before Treating S'porean? Here's What Happened
Friends of the accident victim who alleged hospital withheld treatment until friends paid cash-upfront now say that perhaps there were things that got "lost in translation."
By Sadho Ram — 02 Sep 2017, 03:12 PM
On 31 August, a sensational story alleging that a "Malaysian hospital demanded cash payment before treatment" by a Singapore news portal, The Independent, went viral
In its report, The Independent quoted a person named Joshua, one of the six friends of a hit-and-run victim, Justinian Tan, who lost his life, claiming that the 25-year-old died after Johor Government hospital, Sultanah Aminah Hospital, withheld treatment until family and friends paid cash up-front before medical attention.
Justinian Tan and five of his friends were heading back to their car along Jalan Dato Abdullah Tahir in Taman Abad at about 3am when a car collided into two of the friends from behind and drove off. Tan and 24-year-old Brandon Yeo were hit.
The Independent also claimed, via another friend of Tan's, named Ernest Lee, that authorities were slow to respond to the emergency, with the ambulance arriving only after 30 minutes despite the accident site being just nine minutes’ drive away according to Google Maps.
The Singapore news portal further alleged that the friends were told of the duo’s prognosis about four hours later by the hospital and they were told that the brain operation would be conducted by a “medical officer” instead of a surgeon.
The Independent's story led to an online brouhaha, with several netizens taking to social media to vent their anger
Following which, an investigation was launched to look into the claims.
The Star Online quoted Johor Health, Environment, Education and Information Committee chairman Datuk Ayub Rahmat urging the public to allow investigations to proceed "before accusing any parties of anything".
Following an investigation into the claims published in the Singapore news portal, Director-General of Malaysian Health Ministry Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah refuted the claims
According to a report by The Malaysian Insight, D-G Noor Hisham said that upon arrival at the hospital, Tan was brought into the Red Zone, where the advanced trauma life support (ATLS) protocol, that was applied by the ambulance team, was continued.
He added that the emergency department also initiated the necessary imaging treatment that included primary survey X-rays and CT-scan of brain and thorax, and intubation, and referred the case to the relevant department in a timely and professional manner.
He also refused the claims of "payment-before-treatment demand", saying that the case was treated as an emergency and no demand was made for a deposit, in line with the MoH policy for foreigners seeking treatment in public hospitals.
"The MoH has always valued life and does its utmost to treat any patient, regardless of background and nationality," Noor Hisham was quoted by The Malaysian Insight.
Responding to the friends' claim that it took the hospital ambulance 30 minutes to arrive at the scene, D-G Noor Hisham said that the record showed that it was despatched within two minutes after the distress call was received
"The emergency call was made at 2.57am on 25 August and the ambulance left at 2.59am, arriving at the scene at 3.10am. It departed the scene at 3.15am," he said, adding that it was the boy's family who chose to have him discharged to seek treatment in a Singapore hospital, despite being told the risk of delaying treatment.
Now one of the friends of the Singaporean Justinian Tan says that distress and language barrier could have caused them to misunderstand the situation at the JB hospital
The friend, Joshua De Rozario, was quoted by The Straits Times, saying that, "due to the distress that they were experiencing, the wait for the ambulance had "felt like 30 minutes" even though the hospital log showed differently."
He even admitted, contrary to the claims published by The Independent, that when they got to the hospital, "they started treating him (Justinian Tan) straight away."
He added that the staff were speaking Malay and him and his friends were speaking English and "we had difficulties communicating" which "caused him and his friends to think that they were required to pay a deposit before Tan could be attended to."
On the allegations published in The Independent, Health Minister Dr S. Subramaniam said that they "were untrue and disappointing" as they have destroyed the hospital's image", adding that the Health Ministry is considering taking legal action against the Singapore news portal
Dr Subramaniam was quoted by The Star Online saying that the ministry was considering taking legal action on The Independent, whose false report "gave an impression that the hospital had put money first before saving a life."
"The editor should have referred the matter to the Malaysian authorities before running the story. Only after putting it up online, they wanted to get clarification from us but by then, it is too late," The Star Online reported him as saying.
Meanwhile, Johor traffic police chief Supt Dzulkhairi Mukhtar said the driver involved in the hit-and-run case will be arrested following their investigation into the matter
According to a report in FMT, while the driver of the car had turned himself in on the night of the accident, he was not arrested at the time.
Shading light into the matter, a director of Templars Law LLC in Singapore, Peter Ong, told TODAY that in a hit-and-run case, the Malaysian police would typically “find the plate number and go to the (driver’s) house” to complete a report.
“They might not arrest on the spot, but they may charge the person when investigations reveal (more) later … (It’s not unfair in the sense that) they are still investigating the incident. It is not letting him (the driver involved in an accident) off,” said Ong.