Cordlife probe to take about 6 more weeks: Ong Ye Kung

Affected parents advised to defer requests for transfers to other cord blood banks

- Lee Li Ying

Investigations into the viability of the cord blood units in six tanks at Cordlife Group are ongoing and expected to take about six more weeks, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung in a Facebook post on Dec 8.

In the meantime, affected parents are advised to hold off on their requests for transfers to other cord blood banks, he added.

On Nov 30, the Ministry of Health (MOH) revealed in a statement that the private cord blood bank had exposed seven of its 22 tanks storing cord blood units to suboptimal temperatures at different periods from November 2020.

Cord blood units in one of its tanks, Tank A - which had an estimated 2,200 cord blood units belonging to approximately 2,150 clients were damaged and are unlikely to be suitable for stem cell transplant purposes.

Mr Ong said he had received many e-mails and messages since the breaches were announced, and that many parents were understandably upset and distressed.

Other than ascertaining the extent of temperature changes for the six affected tanks and the viability of stored cord blood units within them, MOH is working to uncover the reasons for the breaches, said Mr Ong.

Parents had previously raised concerns about the viability of cord blood units housed in the other 15 tanks that were not affected by temperature changes, as their trust in the company had been broken.