Drug Blunder at KKH - Filled With Outrage & Disgust (Part 1)

As I'm seated next to my mum in the B Class Ward, the thought of what our family had been going through just gets on my nerves.

Poor mummy has been hospitalised since last Friday, 6th November 2009, no thanks to KK Women's & Children's Hospital (KKH) doing. Negligence by not one but TWO pharmacists led to the overdosage of chemotherapy drugs to my mum and another Stage 1 cancer patient.

Till date, not a single one of the two idiots has personally apologize to my mum. En-route to hospital with my dad, I was told that the culprits, however, did visit Mdm Ng Poh Hung(the other victim) and apologize for the blunder. Two cases of overdosage (drug that was supposed to be administered over 3-4 days was induced within 3-4 hours), two different type of drugs (Mdm Ng's drug was much more potent, as explained by the hospital), yet the culprits seem to be only concern and worried about the other victim.

Now, I'm not just hoping to seek redress but also public awareness about what's happening, which may not be as transparent as it seems...

On the night of the incident, my mum and sis rushed down to the hospital immediately after the alarm went off, indicating the complete infusion of the chemo drug, doxorubicin. Mum rang me up and I rushed down to the hospital straight after work. Upon arrival, we had to wait for one of the pharmacists (not the idiots, but equally incompetent) to attend to our worries.

One thing I couldn't stand is that over the past week, the words "serious" and "it's ok" have been used loosely!!!

She told us it's ok and that the side effects will be similar to undergoing the treatment over 3 days. I'm like "Hello, this is a negligence by the hospital, right? No way am I going to accept that a drug that was suppose to be taken over 3 days is the same as taking it over 3 hours!"

I was fuming and she told me the most important thing right now is to get the pump out of my mum's body and running some tests on her. Hearing that, I told her to go ahead. Instead, she went over to the phone and started ringing (I suppose she called up doctors to seek some advice) someone. Within minutes, my mum spotted Mdm Ng and she asked if she also faced the same issue. Our fear was affirmed by Mdm Ng.

Upon seeing us discussing the obvious mistake made, the pharmacist stopped whatever she was doing and walked over to us, trying to explain things yet again. She then told us that my mum's drug was not as potent as Mdm Ng's and it was ok for us to head back home. I was totally in "awe" by her statement. She then asked the two patients if we wanted to stay in hospital for further observations! I couldn't just stand there and hear her crap, choosing to interrupt her immediately and saying "This is not a matter of us wanting to stay but rather you telling us that we have to stay for further observations and tests to make sure that everything is fine!". She then replied "Then can I request that the patients stay over night?".

We found out later (during an inquiry arranged 5 days after the incident!!!) that pharmacists have no right to say whether or not one should be fine to leave the hospital and this should only be addressed by doctors.