SINGAPORE – After missing her period for five months, a 15-year-old girl consulted Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) physician Wu Liping, who diagnosed her for “hormonal imbalance”.

The teenager was in fact five months pregnant.

For the misdiagnosis at Shenzhou Chinese Physician Clinic in Jurong East, Mdm Wu was censured and suspended for three months from June 1, and fined S$5,000.

Without ruling out the possibility that she might be pregnant, Mdm Wu prescribed her a herbal decoction that is meant to revitalise and strengthen the blood flow. The medication “posed health risks to both the patient and her unborn child”, the TCM Practitioners Board said in a media release on Friday (June 10). The misdiagnosis was brought to light after a complaint was lodged by the teenager’s father.

Following an Investigation Committee Inquiry, Mdm Wu was found guilty of professional negligence, among other things, as she had failed to conduct an adequate clinical examination of the teen and had not asked enough basic questions to understand her patient’s condition.
“The diagnosis and TCM herbal medication prescribed and dispensed by Wu to the patient … was not an appropriate and/or generally accepted TCM treatment and fell short of the standard set out in the Ethical Code,” the Board said. 

Mdm Wu was ordered to foot the cost of the inquiry hearing, the investigation conducted and the action taken against her by the TCM Practitioners Board. Besides the Jurong East clinic, Mdm Wu also practises TCM at New Century Healthcare in Ang Mo Kio. 

CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this story, we reported that TCM physician Mdm Wu was suspended till June 1. Her 3-month suspension commenced from June 1. We're sorry for the error.