Doctor fined, censured for failing to inform patient of risks of procedure

SINGAPORE — A general surgeon has been fined S$5,000 and censured by the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) after he pleaded guilty to two counts of professional misconduct.

Dr Eric Gan Keng Seng, 49, had failed to inform his patient of the possible risks and complications involved in the Endovenous Laser Treatment (EVLT), a procedure to treat varicose veins.

Dr Gan, who was practising at Eric Gan Surgery at the Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre at the time of the incident in July 2009, also did not tell the same patient that another surgeon would be doing the procedure.

A third charge was withdrawn, the SMC said in a press release yesterday.

The medical watchdog said a complaint was lodged against Dr Gan by the patient on Oct 28, 2010.

An SMC disciplinary committee inquiry, which was held on Feb 15, found “that the failure to obtain informed consent from a patient, through the failure of providing adequate information was a clear breach of a duty owed by the doctor to his patient”.

However, it also noted that Dr Gan had held several consultations with the patient and had recommended other non-invasive and conservative treatments first, among other things.

Hence, there was no basis to conclude that Dr Gan was trying to push the patient into doing a certain procedure, the committee said.

It also found that Dr Gan’s mistake of not informing the patient of another surgeon’s involvement was “more of the nature of an oversight and was not intentional”.

Apart from the fine and censure, Dr Gan also had to give a written undertaking to the SMC not to commit such professional misconduct and pay the costs of the proceedings.