Mr Koh Choon Lim died at Tan Tock Seng Hospital on July 29, 2022, two days after taking four capsules of Lianhua Qingwen Jiaonang to deal with the Covid-19 symptoms he was experiencing. While the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) pills were flagged as a possible trigger for the allergic reaction in medical notes, State Coroner Adam Nakhoda said in his findings on Wednesday that this could not be conclusively confirmed in a post-mortem setting.
His final cause of death was anaphylaxis — a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction — and a Covid-19 respiratory tract infection, which his emphysema and coronary artery disease contributed to. The coroner stated that smoking was considered the primary cause of Mr Koh's emphysema — he was a regular smoker who smoked about 16 cigarettes a day. The coroner's court heard that Mr Koh began to show symptoms of a Covid-19 infection on July 26, 2022