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SINGAPORE - A 17-year-old girl claims that she was stripped of her underwear and that nude shots of her lower body were taken despite her protests prior to an operation.
The student is now sueing famed plastic surgeon Dr Martin Huang, 49, and his clinic, The Specialist
Surgery & Laser Centre at Paragon, for pain, suffering, extreme mental distress and trauma as a result of the incident.
The unnamed girl had gone to Dr Huang for a scar revision and contouring of underlying fat on her upper left thigh on 29 November last year. As she was underaged, it was her mother who signed the consent papers on her behalf. The consent papers had stated that photographs may be taken as part of the patient's confidential medical records.
However, the girl claims that the consent papers did not state that full nudity would be involved.
The girl claims that prior to the procedure, she was instructed by Dr Huang to stand against a wall in the operating room for photographs to be taken. She alleges that a female nurse pulled down her underwear, and that she was instructed by Dr Huang to place her hands on her head while photographs were taken by another female staff. Dr Huang was standing about an arm's length away from her when this happened, she claims.
The girl says that there had been no need for her to be naked while the photos were taken as the procedure was to be performed on her thigh.
She claims that she was so traumatised by the incident that she had to seek post-operative care elsewhere. She is seeking damages for medical expenses and transport expenses for her visits to another clinic. She is also requesting for a court order for the delivery of the photos, as well as for them to be deleted from the databases belonging to Dr Huang and the clinic.
"Standard procedure"
Dr Huang and the clinic have both denied the allegations in their defence. They did not deny that the girl's underwear was removed but said that both the girl and her mother had given their consent for the scar and the area around it to be photographed.
Dr Huang also said in his defence that the girl's underwear had to be removed as it would obscure or interfere with the view of the scar and its surrounding area, reported The New Paper. A nurse had told the girl that it was "standard procedure". However, the girl's parents did not accept this explanation.
The lawsuit was filed by the girl's mother on her behalf.
Dr Huang was previously taken to task by the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) in 2009 for performing unproven stem-cell treatments on patients.
Some clinics have the practice of taking "before" and "after" photos of patients undergoing certain procedures. An online search of Ministry of Health Singapore (MOH) and Singapore Medical Association (SMA) websites did not turn up definitive rules on the practice of taking photos of patients. However, MOH Advertising Guidelines for local clinics discourage their display on websites and other electronic forms.
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