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How Can I Trust Public Healthcare Anymore?

xingguy

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Source: The Real Singapore

HOW CAN I TRUST PUBLIC HEALTHCARE ANYMORE?
Post date: 3 Aug 2014 - 9:04pm

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My father passed away suddenly on 16 March 2014 in SGH. He was initially diagnosed with liver cirrhosis but had completed a “successful” liver transplant in January 2014 and was recovering. We already made plans for rehabilitation and was ready to bring him home the following week. Unfortunately, he never made it and the explanation given by the hospital was unsatisfactory and not coherent with the actual events leading up to his passing.

Since he was admitted on 5 Jan 2014, there has been a surgical drainage inserted into him to help his body drain out excess fluid as he was not able to do so normally due to his health conditions. However, he was still recovering well until he contacted 2 new viruses in the 7th week post transplant. The dosage of medication was then increased significantly through IV. At the same time, his surgical drainage was removed even though he was still having an output of at least 500ml of fluid daily. The doctor assured us that it is time for his body to get used to the fluid which is very confusing as he started experiencing breathlessness almost immediately. The wound was stitched up, however, it also leaked quite a fair bit. Doctor still maintained that they will observe and if there’s a need be, they will insert another tube into him. No one mentioned that he was in a life threatening situation.

On 14 March 2014, one day after removing the drainage, close to 3 litres of fluid was also IV into him to prepare him for a procedure. That same night, after the intravenous drip and procedure, my father started showing symptoms of confusion, shortness of breath, perspiration. We asked for a doctor but apparently no doctors were available at 2am. When the on-call doctor finally arrived after 3am, I questioned her on the delay and she responded nonchalantly that there are also other very sick patients in the hospital. She then ordered a panadol for my dad and an x-ray and left.

After a long while, when my father's symptoms got worse, the registar in charge came and called for the ICU doctors assistance. They then deemed my dad to be acutely ill and requested to send him to ICU. In ICU, the doctors communicated that it appears to be fluid overload and that the appropriate remedy will be taken. However, my father then passed away due to pulmonary edema in the ICU a day later. It only took 3 days after the surgical drainage was removed, till he passed away.

We wrote a lengthy email to the hospital questioning the decisions and medical quality received. I had escalate this to SMC on numerous occasions and the only response received was to tell us to wait for the hospital's reply. The reply we received took 4 months and was largely dismissive, and that they did all they could. It was maddenning that the hospital claimed on the fateful night, that the on-call doctor did all the necessary checks on my father with a stethoscope but we were there the whole time and she only pressed on his abdomen twice, failing to examine his lungs. The time of medical care reflected in the official reply from the hospital were also inaccurate (i.e. saying that the on-call doctor only took 30 mins to come at about 2:45am, when we only saw the doctor after 3am which is more than one hour later).

My father battled ICU successfully 3 times previously. While I understood that the odds were against him, I believe there was a case of fluid overload and even malpractice thus causing pulmonary edema and death. I had enquired with lawyers and the general advice was to go through the ministries. A medical lawsuit is just too expensive.

Basically as a Singaporean who lost her father with many dubious points replied by the hospital, it appears that there are no other options.

For people with family members in hospital, please demand your rights when you have doubts. For us, I would always wonder, if only we had a second opinion when the surgical drainage was removed. If only, I screamed for someone more qualified to examine my father when he was breathless.

Would we had the opportunity to bring him home for Father's day instead?

Average Singaporean

TRS Contributor

End of article

You might be interested in this thread: Today I Was Attended To By A Doctor From The 8th Ranked Medical School In Pinoyland
 

Leongsam

High Order Twit / Low SES subject
Admin
Asset
Nobody can be kept alive forever. We all have to meet our maker at some point.
 

Leongsam

High Order Twit / Low SES subject
Admin
Asset
Don't be such a dick.

I'm just being realistic. A liver transplant is a major procedure and all it does in the end is buy a bit more time. Exactly how much more is a very individual thing. The typical success rate after a year is about 80% which means 2 out of 10 won't survive despite the best efforts of the doctors.

Even Steve Jobs, despite his billions and a genetically targeted approach to his ailments, succumbed to the inevitable in a short period of time.

People expect too much from the medical fraternity. Despite all the fancy equipment, it's still an extremely inexact science and nobody truly understands the complexity of life.

It is understandable that there will be an emotional rather than a sensible reaction to the death of a loved one. However, time will heal.
 

virus

Alfrescian
Loyal
I'm just being realistic. A liver transplant is a major procedure and all it does in the end is buy a bit more time. Exactly how much more is a very individual thing. The typical success rate after a year is about 80% which means 2 out of 10 won't survive despite the best efforts of the doctors.

Even Steve Jobs, despite his billions and a genetically targeted approach to his ailments, succumbed to the inevitable in a short period of time.

People expect too much from the medical fraternity. Despite all the fancy equipment, it's still an extremely inexact science and nobody truly understands the complexity of life.

It is understandable that there will be an emotional rather than a sensible reaction to the death of a loved one. However, time will heal.

steve jobs died of inflated ego. there is no cure for that either.
 

winners

Alfrescian
Loyal
It will be a very much different scenario if the patient is LKY or LHL instead. Don't you all agree?
 

eatshitndie

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
a doctor from a public hospital prescribed a merck drug to help lower the blood pressure of a patient, but did not specify duration or end date. so the patient religiously followed prescription and took the drug for 2 years, until the extreme low blood pressure caused fainting spells and symptoms of a pending heart attack. went back to the same hospital, and a new young doctor recommended a pacemaker as heartbeat was not keeping up. patient consulted a more experienced private doctor, and doc said the 2-year of medication was too long and can be destructive, and medication must be stopped immediately. upon review by private doc, new young public hospital doc agreed with private doc that medication must cease immediately and pacemaker was not necessary. but she went on to prescribe another drug wafarin for blood thinning without an end date. the patient consulted the private doc again, and doc recommended that he stopped taking wafarin. his blood pressure, heartbeat, and blood viscosity are back to normal, and he is living a healthy life with primarily a fruit and vege diet plus some meat with zero medication. the sg public healthcare system, especially hospitals and clinics, is pushing drugs for testing and trials on clueless patients in cahoots with the big pharmaceutical companies. the problem with elderly patients in sg is that they religiously believe every divine word of the pubic, oops public, doctor and or medical provider.
 

escher

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
It will be a very much different scenario if the patient is LKY or LHL instead. Don't you all agree?




PAP is finished.
The stinking glue and terror that hold PAP together is that old fart smear of shit on sole of shoe LKY. LKY is about to die in days or weeks.
LKY will never allow good decent people into the PAP and good decent people will not want to get into the PAP. Those in PAP are the most corrupt and moral degenerates and moral bankrupts and moral filths that are being presented to stinkaporeans as moral compasses.
None of those in PAP work for anyone but that smear of shit on sole of shoe LKY, to help him hold down Singaporeans to screw and fuck hundreds of BILLIONs from us all into smear of shit on sole of shoe LKY stinkapore sovereign funds.
They are there in PAP because LKY know that they are a bunch of self serving greedy bastards and scrapings of scums of society. To call them maggots cockroaches will be to insult real maggots and real cockroaches.


WE ALL ARE NOW WAITING FOR THE DEATH OF LKY IN COMING DAYS OR WEEKS.
WE ALL WILL YUM SENG AND YUM SENG AND YUM SENG AGAIN AND AGAIN DANCING SINGING ON TABLE TOPS AND STREETS
WE THEN WILL SEE THOSE IN PAP WITH SHARPENED KNIVES HOOTING ARSEHLOON A DOZEN NEW ARSEHOLES AND THE DEATH OF THE ENTIRE LEE KWA CLAN
WE THEN WILL PICK UP PIANO WIRES AND HANG ALL THOSE REMAINING PAP AND THEIR COLLABORATORS FROM LAMP POSTS AND SEE THOSE BASTARDS AND BITCHES DANCE.
AND HAPPINESS WILL RETURN TO OUR LAND.
AND STINKAPORE WILL BECOME SINGAPORE ONCE MORE.
https://www.torproject.org/about/overview.html.en


PAP is finished.
The stinking glue and terror that hold PAP together is that old fart smear of shit on sole of shoe LKY. LKY is about to die in days or weeks.
LKY will never allow good decent people into the PAP and good decent people will not want to get into the PAP. Those in PAP are the most corrupt and moral degenerates and moral bankrupts and moral filths that are being presented to stinkaporeans as moral compasses.
None of those in PAP work for anyone but that smear of shit on sole of shoe LKY, to help him hold down Singaporeans to screw and fuck hundreds of BILLIONs from us all into smear of shit on sole of shoe LKY stinkapore sovereign funds.
They are there in PAP because LKY know that they are a bunch of self serving greedy bastards and scrapings of scums of society. To call them maggots cockroaches will be to insult real maggots and real cockroaches.


WE ALL ARE NOW WAITING FOR THE DEATH OF LKY IN COMING DAYS OR WEEKS.
WE ALL WILL YUM SENG AND YUM SENG AND YUM SENG AGAIN AND AGAIN DANCING SINGING ON TABLE TOPS AND STREETS
WE THEN WILL SEE THOSE IN PAP WITH SHARPENED KNIVES HOOTING ARSEHLOON A DOZEN NEW ARSEHOLES AND THE DEATH OF THE ENTIRE LEE KWA CLAN
WE THEN WILL PICK UP PIANO WIRES AND HANG ALL THOSE REMAINING PAP AND THEIR COLLABORATORS FROM LAMP POSTS AND SEE THOSE BASTARDS AND BITCHES DANCE.
AND HAPPINESS WILL RETURN TO OUR LAND.
AND STINKAPORE WILL BECOME SINGAPORE ONCE MORE.
https://www.torproject.org/about/overview.html.en
 

sleaguepunter

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
father how old liao? liver transplant mean expensive antibodies med till the rest of his life. and don't expect too much from those houseman who man the middle of the night duty at the wards. There only one doc for 2-3 wards at night and the bugger only receive $3000 a month. he or she are in no position to save critical patient.
 

Cerebral

Alfrescian (InfP) [Comp]
Generous Asset
I'm just being realistic. A liver transplant is a major procedure and all it does in the end is buy a bit more time. Exactly how much more is a very individual thing. The typical success rate after a year is about 80% which means 2 out of 10 won't survive despite the best efforts of the doctors.

Even Steve Jobs, despite his billions and a genetically targeted approach to his ailments, succumbed to the inevitable in a short period of time.

People expect too much from the medical fraternity. Despite all the fancy equipment, it's still an extremely inexact science and nobody truly understands the complexity of life.

It is understandable that there will be an emotional rather than a sensible reaction to the death of a loved one. However, time will heal.

How can a human life be measured by dollars and cents? Can we put a price to even an extra day of life? This is morality and humanity; and this is the balance to democracy.
 
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