Aesthetic doctor accused of causing patient's death gets new charges for supplying 'unwholesome' health products
Ili Nadhirah Mansor/TODAYSINGAPORE — A 34-year-old medical doctor, who was accused of causing the death of a patient during an aesthetic procedure due to negligence, on Tuesday (Dec 6) received three new charges related to expired and unregistered therapeutic products he allegedly provided.
Chan Bingyi, a Singaporean, is accused of contravening the Health Products Act on three occasions in March 2019 at the Revival Medical & Aesthetics Centre, which is located in the Esplanade Xchange mall.
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Court documents showed that the first two instances allegedly took place on March 18.The prosecution charged Chan with supplying an "unwholesome health product" by possessing 21 ampoules of adrenaline that had passed the expiry date of Jan 30 that year, as well as supplying an unregistered health product by possessing three bottles of the anaesthetic skin cream J-Cain lidocaine.
As for his third charge, Chan is accused of similarly supplying an unwholesome health product by possessing an ampoule of Shintamet on March 25, which had passed the expiry date of October 2018.
Shintamet, which contains the drug cimetidine, is used in the treatment of gastric ulcers and heartburn, among other uses, Singapore health consultancy Mims stated.
In all, this brings the total charges against Chan to four.
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He was first charged on Oct 11 this year after his alleged negligence during an aesthetic procedure caused a female patient’s death.Chan allegedly administered ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) to 31-year-old Lau Li Ting intravenously when there was no need to do so, and at “too high a concentration and too quickly”, court documents stated.
This allegedly caused Lau to develop EDTA toxicity that led to her cardiac arrest and eventual death, the documents showed.
EDTA is sometimes prescribed by doctors to remove toxic metals, such as lead, from the patient's blood. It is commonly used in skincare and cosmetic products.
Court documents stated that the incident occurred around noon on March 8, 2019 at Revival Medical and Aesthetics Centre.
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Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao previously reported that Lau also worked as a property agent and that it was not the first time that she received an aesthetic treatment.She died a few days after the treatment and her family made a police report.
Chan, who is represented by Mr Adrian Wee from law firm Characterist LLC, is scheduled to return to court on Jan 11 next year. He remains out on a S$5,000 bail.
Public records from the Ministry of Health showed that Chan graduated from the National University of Singapore in 2012.
He became fully registered as a doctor in 2013 and his current practising certificate is valid until the end of this year.
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The penalty for anyone found guilty of supplying either unregistered or expired health products is a fine of up to S$50,000 or a jail term of up to two years, or both.Anyone found guilty of causing the death of a person through a negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide can be sentenced up to two years in jail or fined, or both.
