MOH Responds to Goh Meng Seng’s Claims About Lianhua Qingwen

During the COVID-19 pandemic, another equally contagious disease has been spreading all over the world.

Circulating misinformation.

Symptoms include:

• making unverified claims on Whatsapp and social media
• a refusal to budge when contrary evidence is presented
• using an inordinate amount of exclamation marks

Some claims, such as telling people to drink more water because the coronavirus seems to be frightened of well-hydrated individuals, are harmless.

But when the authorities deem certain pieces of misinformation to be particularly dangerous, they usually step in.

Goh Meng Seng’s Claims About Lianhua Qingwen

The hoo haa all started with a Facebook post by People’s Power Party chief Goh Meng Seng last Thursday (18 Nov).

In it, Goh responded to a statement that the Health Science Authority (HSA) had made on the use of Lianhua Qingwen to treat COVID-19.

Published a day earlier, the HSA statement said the Chinese proprietary medicine (CPM) has not been approved as a COVID-19 treatment, and that there is no scientific evidence from randomised clinical trials to show that including Lianhua Qingwen products, or any herbal product, can be used to prevent or treat COVID-19.

Lianhua Qingwen is a type of traditional Chinese medicine and is used in Singapore for the relief of cold and flu symptoms.

Goh, however, believes that the authorities were “lying openly” about this, claiming that the Ministry of Health (MOH) had actually sponsored a study on the efficacy of Lianhua Qingwen to treat COVID-19.

“It is totally untrue that there is no study on LianHua QingWen’s efficacy and safety in Covid19 treatment,” he wrote.

“The study was expected to start in Jul 2020 and end in Feb 2021,” he added, sharing a screenshot of what appears to be a list of studies that Goh believes were sponsored by the government.

MOH: Goh’s Claim is Baseless & Incorrect

In response, the health ministry said that Goh’s claim about the government lying is baseless and incorrect.

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MOH clarified that while it had indeed offered to sponsor a study under a TCM research grant, the researcher had withdrawn her application as she wasn’t able to secure a suitable study site.

“To date, a few randomised control clinical trials (RCTs) on Lianhua Qingwen have been conducted, only in China. The numbers of patients in these RCTs were not large enough, as such there is no conclusive scientific evidence to show Lianhua Qingwen can be used to prevent or treat COVID-19 in Singapore,” it said in a Facebook post.

“Mr Goh Meng Seng has accused the Government of lying; this is a serious, baseless accusation. We reserve the right to take further action if Mr Goh Meng Seng persists with this unjustified claim,” it added.

The ministry strongly advised the public to consult a doctor for the management of COVID-19, and to avoid speculating and spreading misinformation, as it may cause public alarm.

Goh’s Response to MOH

Shortly after MOH’s statement, Goh responded on Facebook in a series of posts, in both English and Mandarin.

In his response, the focus is more the wording of MOH’s statement and his claims, and claimed that MOH did know about the study.

You can read it here:

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Featured Image: Facebook (Goh Meng Seng)