CGH says man’s cardiac arrest is unrelated to COVID-19 vaccination; Family demands explanation, second opinion

About six hours after receiving his first COVID-19 vaccination on 18 April, her 48-year-old brother-in-law started feeling “very weak and giddy”, and had to be taken to the hospital via an ambulance, said a netizen on Facebook.

In a post on Thursday (22 April), Jo-ann Tan said that after being admitted to Changi General Hospital, the family was informed that her brother-in-law had suffered a stroke and has lost vision in both eyes. They did not know if the loss of vision was permanent or temporary.

After some medical intervention, Ms Tan said that his condition continued to deteriorate, leading to an endotracheal tube being inserted. He was moved to the MICU that same night.

Ms Tan recalled, “19 April, we were told a CT scan will be done on that night and if all good, they will remove the endotracheal tube the next day.”

“20 April, he suffered his third stroke, while still on endotracheal tube and heavily drugged.”

The doctor has informed the family on the evening of 20 April that his condition was worse and told all immediate family members to visit him.

Ms Tan the noted the irony of the family having trouble getting in to visit him due to COVID-19 protocols.

She said, “I begged the counter staff to help as this could be the last time we are seeing him alive. How I wished I have someone from the hospital support team to help us in such challenging time. We were all alone.”

Ms Tan went on to say that a decision then had to be made on whether to send him for emergency brain surgery to reduce the pressure building up, though there was a “30%” risk that he could die on the operating table.

Again, Ms tan noted how alone the distraught family felt, saying, “No one from the Covid Vaccination emergency team was with us. Maybe there is no such team to begin with.”

Fortunately, Ms Tan’s brother-in-law survived the operation.

The next day, Ms Tan said she tried to contact the COVID Vaccination Emergency hotline she found online for support.

She recalled, “I was first asked if he has underlying medical condition and I should instead raised a[n] issue ticket with HSA.”

She then questioned, “Actually it makes me wonder, underlying medical condition; what about those who doesn’t do medical checkup and doesn’t even know if they have underlying medical condition?

“They are just walking time bomb but a small injection may cause adverse reaction. Are our checks sufficient?”

She went on to highlight that the government has assured the people that the COVID-19 vaccine would be safe for a majority of the population, with extreme cases being at only 0.3 percent.

She added, “He is unlucky but it can happen to anyone. This is real and it is reality that we do not get any support or assistance from the ministry,” and asked, “Where is the gap?”

She continued, “The protocol seems right on social distancing but when the 0.3% suffered an adverse reaction (whom we were told usually recovered) nothing was done even when I reach out. I even tried reaching out to MPs and only one asked for my email address but nothing else.”

Noting that the hospital had confirmed with her that the Ministry of Health (MOH) is informed of her brother-in-law’s case, she wondered, “Are there many such cases that the ministry is so busy managing?”

“I only asked for warm bodies to assure us the government is doing their best to help this very unique adverse reaction case. Even to send a brain specialist to access and monitor him just to assure the family that the government cares not just say only.”

For now, Ms Tan said that the family is worried about the mounting medical bills, as her brother-in-law has since been transferred to the SICU and they are not sure if he would ever recover.

“What about his post-surgery treatment and recovery? Will this be paid for by the government or we are on our own since he did not develop any side effect while he was at the facility?”

She added, “If both eye vision are lost, he will not be able to work. He is only 48 years old, what should he do?”

In response to queries from TOC, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Friday (23 April) that they are aware of Ms Tan’s feedback and are currently looking into the matter.

On the same day, Changi General Hospital said in a statement on its Facebook page that its care team is “committed to and focused on providing care and support for its patients,” adding that it has reached out to the family.

CGH also said, “Our preliminary assessment does not indicate COVID-19 vaccination as the cause,” and noted that it is unable to comment further “out of respect for patient confidentiality.”

The next day on 24 April, Ms Tan posted an response to CGH via a new Facebook page dedicated to the issue called “Is it really safe?“. In the post, she asked for an explanation on who determined that her brother-in-law’s medical condition is unrelated to the vaccine.

She said, “The neurosurgeon doesn’t even know my BIL had his vaccine until yesterday, but yesterday, you told the media it is not related. Please reach out to family for a discussion.”

She then questioned the hospital’s claim that they had reached out to the family, asking “did you go to the right patient?”

Ms Tan noted that she knows of another patient in SICU who suffered a cardiac arrest after his second jab. His first heart attack, she said, adding his daughter had approached her. She asked if CGH spoke to the correct family.

She went on to say, “Met the neurosurgeon and ICU doctor and had a very detailed discussion on my [brother-in-law’s] condition. I will not share further, it will be a very long journey ahead. Now is to save his life first.”

Ms Tan then said she requested for an explanation of why her brother-in-law had such an adverse reaction after being vaccinated. She said the doctors told her that “they don’t determine if these strokes have relation with the vaccine,” that it is the hospital who would look into it.

Though she asked to speak to the panel of doctors who assessed her brother-in-law, Ms Tan said no one had responded to her yet at the time, adding that the neurosurgeon only just found out yesterday that he had his vaccine.

In another update on that same post on the same day, Ms tan thanked a staff nurse named Glen who helped her call up the panel of doctors and arrange a meeting with the family.

Ms Tan listed out her two hopes for the near future, the first being that the brain and cardiovascular specialists would assess her brother-in-law to provide a second opinion.

Her next hope is for the government to take care of all the medical expenses, current and future, related to this issue so that they can focus on getting well instead of worrying about mounting bills. She said, “I pray government will give us this privilege just to assure everyone reading my post that even when shit happens, our government cares.”

The next day on 25 April, Ms Tan posted another update on that new Facebook page. She noted that her brother-in-law is more responsive today. She added that CGH had approved her request for a second opinion and is facilitating it, adding that the neurosurgeon agreed that a second opinion may help.

Ms Tan also said that she is appealing to the MOH to reassess the application criteria for the government Vaccine Injury Financial Assistance Programme (VIFAP).

She wrote, “For any adverse reaction after taking the vaccine, the government will take care of the medical expenses, just like the way you manage Covid admission last year. Of course, it should be Class C subsidies. VIFAP will be reserved for those who lost their ability to work due to permanent disability or death.”