HEALTH Minister Dr Adham Baba today denied doctors were being forced to save the ventilators for younger Covid-19 patients and turn away the elderly due to a shortage of resources.

“That is not true. We have not reached that stage,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

He was asked to comment on whether the healthcare system had been stretched to breaking point like in India, where overwhelming ICU admissions and limited resources had compelled the doctors to keep the ventilators for the patients who were more likely to survive.

“MOH is always stepping up our capacity and supplies of equipment to ensure that they are administered to everyone in need,” Adham added in response to the claims of a frontline doctor in Malaysia.

The doctor said in a now deleted tweet that severely infected patients aged above 60 and with comorbidities would not receive breathing aid which was reserved for younger patients with no pre-existing health conditions.

“If you are above 60 with comorbidities coming in with severe Covid-19, we are not going to intubate you because we are saving the ventilator for the younger ones with good premorbid. The time for idealistic treatment has passed. We have to treat with our limited resources,” the doctor had said.

Other doctors serving on the frontlines told The Malaysian Insight they had not been instructed to keep the ventilators for younger patients.

A doctor in Terengganu who asked to remain anonymous said he had received no such orders nor had he heard any rumours to the effect.

“To say something like this is against the Hippocratic oath.

“Unless resources become very limited, for example you have 300 patients but only100 ventilators, then the government might want to say that.

“Right now our resources are low, but it is still manageable,” he said.

The doctor added it was unfair to discount patients because of age, adding that whether a patient is put on a ventilator depended on several factors.

“Whenever we make a decision to intubate, we have to consider a lot of things. We make the decision based on the condition, availability of infrastructure and manpower and patient autonomy.”

A doctor based in Penang also denied the rumour. “No, no such thing. It’s getting quite tight, but not to that extent,” she said.

Although the ICUs in public hospitals are full, she said it was not right to deprive a patient of a ventilator. “It’s not right to do that, we are playing God (if we do that).”

A Malacca doctor said she too had not heard of such a thing.

ICU admissions reached a record 641 yesterday.

New cases have trended upwards of 3,000 in the last few weeks. As of yesterday, there were 40,101 cases classified as active in the country.

The director-general of health has warned that daily cases could reach 5,000 by mid-May.

Dr Noor Hisham Abdulloah has instructed hospital directors nationwide to brace for the upsurge in cases due to the high infectivity rate, festive season, inadequate vaccination coverage, and high population density iof some areas.

He said there could be more cases with categories 3, 4 and 5 symptoms, with groups such as the elderly and people with comorbidities being particularly at risk. – May 13, 2021.