SMC seeks to reverse ruling against doctor who was fined S$50,000

SINGAPORE — The Singapore Medical Council (SMC) announced on Tuesday (May 21) that it will apply to the Court of Three Judges to overturn the conviction for Dr Soo Shuenn Chiang.

This is because it had obtained new information which was not given to its disciplinary tribunal when it was examining the case.

Two months ago, the council’s three-member disciplinary tribunal found Dr Soo guilty of failing to maintain patient confidentiality and fined him S$50,000. The psychiatrist was said to have shared confidential information about a patient’s condition with her brother who was posing as her husband, and he did not verify the caller’s identity.

Now, SMC is saying that “new information raises doubt on the circumstances surrounding the incident”, after it approached both the patient’s brother and husband to record their statements.

"These statements were not obtained by the Complaints Committee prior to its referral of the patient's complaint against Dr Soo for a formal inquiry by a disciplinary tribunal," it said.

“In the interest of justice”, SMC will provide the information to the court as part of its application to set aside the conviction, it added.

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The Court of Three Judges lays down guidelines for SMC in the prosecution of medical professionals and reviews the decisions of its disciplinary tribunal.

The tribunal noted in its earlier findings that in 2015, the patient’s brother — posing as her husband — contacted Dr Soo, who is the director of the neuroscience clinic at the National University Hospital.

Dr Soo issued a memo to refer the patient to the Institute of Mental Health.

The brother later used that memo to successfully get a personal protection order against the patient.

The patient, who had a history of depression and at risk of self-harm, then filed a complaint with SMC.

The decision led to an uproar among members of the medical community, and online petitions were made to protest against the penalty, which was seen as being overly harsh.  

On March 14, the SMC applied to the High Court for an extension of time to appeal for a reduction of the fine imposed on Dr Soo. After that, the patient’s brother wrote on Facebook that while he was the man who had spoken to Dr Soo, he had done so with the agreement of the patient’s husband.

SECOND SMC APPEAL AGAINST TRIBUNAL'S RULINGS 

Tuesday’s announcement by SMC comes after it appealed against the ruling of another high-profile case.

Earlier this month, the Court of Three Judges heard the SMC's appeal to award a more lenient fine of not more than S$20,000 to orthopaedic surgeon Lim Lian Arn.

Dr Lim was ordered to pay the maximum S$100,000 fine by the disciplinary tribunal last November for failing to inform a patient of the risks or complications that could arise from a steroid injection.

The penalty sparked outrage among doctors here, who questioned whether they were expected to list every possible risk of treatments or drugs when dealing with patients and warned of escalating costs from the practice of defensive medicine.

In February, the Ministry of Health (MOH) asked for the disciplinary tribunal’s decision to be reviewed.

In its latest statement, the SMC said that it will “provide its fullest support” to the workgroup convened by the MOH in March to review SMC’s disciplinary process.

It will also continue to review its disciplinary processes and ensure that all complaints are thoroughly investigated before any referral to a disciplinary tribunal.