Family in dead body mix-up to receive ex-gratia payment: Deputy Health Minister

BALIK PULAU: The family of the late Fong Meng Tuck whose body was involved in a mix-up and released to the wrong family and subsequently cremated will receive an ex-gratia payment said Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya.
The deputy Health Minister said the the ministry was discussing the matter and an announcement will be made soon.
"We regret about the incident and will make sure such incident will not happen in the future.
"The ministry will also announce what compensation will be made. We will convey the DNA result to the family as soon as we have it", he said during a press conference after the closing ceremony of Kembara Sihat 1Malaysia (KS1M) at Balik Pulau Polytechnic today.
Penang Hospital Visitors Board chairman Lim Thoon Deong declined to comment further on the DNA aspect of the settlement.
"It is very technical. Let the health authorities deal with it, " he told theSun.
He added he will not hesitate to help them and would ensure everything is solved amicably between the family and authorities.
The incident began when police sent the badly-decomposed body of Ho Swee Kim, in his 50s, to the hospital mortuary after he was found in a house at Paya Terubong on Nov 20 last year.
On Nov 21, the body of Fong Meng Tuck, 60, was sent to the mortuary after he died in an accident about 2am that day.
A relative of Ho however did not make a positive identification of the body due to the foul smell and allowed undertakers to deal with the cremation process.
As a result of failing to make a valid identification, Meng Tuck's body was released to Ho's relative and was subsequently cremated.
Fong's family only found out what had happened when they went to claim his body.
A DNA test was subsequently carried out by the Chemistry Department to identify the remains upon the request of the Fong family.
Blood samples drawn from Meng Tuck during the post-mortem, prior to the cremation, was reportedly a 99.99% match to the samples obtained from his three children.
The mix-up had prompted mortuary personnel to be suspended from their duty pending disciplinary actions.