Miracle cure agents duping the desperate

Star: KUALA LUMPUR: The obituary announcement about two weeks ago said 26-year-old Thai Chee Onn had passed away peacefully at a hospital in Guangzhou, China.
Thai was among at least 20 Malaysians with terminal illnesses, who had gone to seek treatment in China and ended up coming back in a body bag.
On Tuesday, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek revealed that Malaysians were being misled by local agents duping desperate family members into believing that terminal illnesses could be treated in China.
The families would spend a fortune only to relegate their loved ones to almost certain death, and then have to fork out even more to get their bodies back.
“We spent about RM70,000, which also included RM24,000 to get my brother’s body back,” Thai’s sister Catherine said.
The 30-year-old, devastated by her brother’s death, decided to reveal all to the press at the MCA Public Services and Complaints Department here.
“My concern now is for other Malaysians to not do the same thing and to not believe what these agents say. If you do not believe your doctor, get a second opinion,” she said.
Thai had a brain tumour. After reading an advertisement in a magazine about a miracle cure for such an illness, the family called an agent who said the cure was available in Guangzhou. Thai was subsequently admitted to a hospital there on Sept 22.
He underwent surgery on Oct 9, but died on Oct 17.
Catherine said her brother had just been paid for the first job done by his newly set up renovations company, but died before he could reap the fruits of his labour.
She said the hospital in Guangzhou occupied three floors of an eight-storey building and they had to enter it through a side entrance.
“The other five floors belonged to another hospital. Smoking was allowed in the X-ray room and patients were not isolated in the intensive care unit, which had four beds in each partitioned area,” she said.
“Certain facilities used for medical tests were also shared with the other hospital.”
MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong said a team from the department led by Datuk Wong Mook Leong would be going to the Malaysian consulate in Guangzhou to gather more information on the scam.