SINGAPORE: About 56 per cent of affected Cordlife customers have accepted the refund offers made by the company after its mishandling of cord blood units.
In a regulatory update on Friday (Jun 6), the private cord blood bank gave an update on the number of clients who have accepted its offers that were made in February and April 2024. The offers comprised a refund of the annual fees paid by affected clients from the onset of the “temperature excursion”.
For those affected, Cordlife had also offered to continue storing the cord blood units until their child reaches the age of 21 and to waive all future fees.
When previously contacted by CNA in May last year, Cordlife declined to give the exact figure for the number of clients who had accepted the refunds.
Its mishandling of cord blood units was first made public on Nov 30, 2023, when the Ministry of Health (MOH) revealed that investigations were ongoing.
Seven tanks storing cord blood units were exposed to temperatures above acceptable limits.
About 2,200 cord blood units were found damaged in one of the tanks, affecting at least 2,150 clients. In April last year, it was announced that another 5,300 cord blood units in a second tank and dry shipper were deemed “non-viable”.
Some customers are, however, continuing their legal action against the company. In a bourse update on the matter on Apr 1, the company said it had received on Mar 28 two letters of demand from lawyers acting for two groups of affected clients.
One group is claiming for damages for breach of contract and negligence, while the other group is requesting for compensation for costs, among other warranties and undertakings from Cordlife.
The company received its first letter of demand in May last year, while two other announcements were made in Aug 15, 2024 and Mar 1 on the same matter.
In January, MOH renewed Cordlife’s cord blood and human tissue banking service licences for a year, more than four months after it was allowed to resume its cord blood banking services in a limited manner.
The company said on Friday it intends to host a series of townhall sessions – both in-person and online – to continue engaging customers to address their concerns.
In a media invite last September, Cordlife talked up its new laboratory monitoring system to keep track of storage tank temperatures remotely and how it had hired more experienced laboratory staff and technicians to “elevate standards further”.
