MOH has pushed back its deadline for submitting representations to Oct 27, from Oct 13
[SINGAPORE] Cordlife announced that the Ministry of Health (MOH) has extended its deadline to submit representations concerning its potential one-year suspension to Oct 27, from the initial deadline on Monday (Oct 13).
The embattled cord blood bank faces a possible suspension as recently uncovered operational lapses led to the MOH issuing it a notice of intent to suspend its cord blood banking services for one year on Sep 29. The group was given 14 days from the date of the notice, or until Oct 13, to submit representations.
Cordlife on Monday said that it made an application to MOH on Oct 6 for an extension of time to submit its written representations in relation to the notice.
On Oct 12, the ministry informed Cordlife that it had been granted an extension to submit the representations to the director-general by Oct 27.
The company said that it has stopped the collection, testing, processing and storage of new cord blood units since Sep 30.
It added that it had ceased these services on a voluntary basis, as the suspension of its cord blood banking services licence would only take effect upon the MOH serving it a subsequent notice of decision after considering the representations.
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The ministry’s Sep 29 notice required Cordlife to cease such services to focus solely on safeguarding existing inventory.
“Cordlife is continuing to seek advice on the appropriate response to the notice and will provide an update in due course,” the group said on Monday.
Lapses and potential one-year suspension
The potential suspension comes as a follow-up audit of Cordlife’s operations, conducted in July, revealed that the group failed to comply with regulatory requirements across key operational areas.
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The compliance failures spanned areas of governance, incident reporting and managing, as well as processes involving the collection, testing and processing of new cord blood units collected since January – when Cordlife’s operation licences were renewed.
Following a review of its ability to continue as a going concern in the event of suspension, Cordlife said on Oct 6 that it would be able to continue operations for a 12-month period ending Sep 30, 2026. However, it added that beyond that, the future is not certain.
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