MOH limited in what it can do on Cordlife customer refunds: Janil

He says Govt is not party to contracts for a private service and cannot overstep law

- Lee Li Ying

Compensation and refunds for damaged cord blood units are governed by commercial contracts that the Ministry of Health (MOH) is not party to and, thus, the Government cannot intervene in such matters, said Dr Janil Puthucheary in Parliament on May 8.

Setting public expectations of the Government's role following the discovery of mishandling by embattled cord blood bank Cordlife, the Senior Minister of State for Health said: "The Government cannot overstep the law. There are limits to which the Government can intervene, especially when it comes to issues of compensation and refund." He added that while MOH understands the anxiety and concerns of parents, cord blood banking is an elective, commercial service provided by the private sector.

Dr Janil was responding to Mr Louis Chua (Sengkang GRC), who asked if MOH could ensure that affected Cordlife customers receive a baseline level of compensation.

Processes at the company have been in the spotlight after it was revealed on Nov 30, 2023, that cryopreserved cord blood units in seven of its 22 storage tanks were exposed to sub-optimal storage temperatures. Cord blood units have to be stored at temperatures of no higher than minus 150 deg C.

About 7,500 cord blood units in two tanks and in a dry shipper - a container used to transport cord blood units at extremely low temperatures have been deemed non-viable and unlikely to be suitable for stem cell transplants.