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By K.C. Vijayan
THE Singapore Medical Council has ruled that renowned surgeon Susan Lim be suspended from practising for three years.
She is also to be fined $10,000 in a case involving overcharging a member of the Brunei royal family. She will also be censured in writing and must undertake not to overcharge again.
Dr Lim, 57, is appealing against the punishment, which was revealed in appeal papers she filed in the High Court last week.
The punishment is believed to be among the most severe meted out to an errant doctor, short of being struck off.
She will continue to practise pending the outcome of the appeal. The appeal before the Court of Three Judges is due to be heard in the week of Jan 14 next year.
The court papers, seen by The Straits Times yesterday, revealed that Dr Lim was found guilty last month of 94 charges of professional misconduct.
This included making false representations in some invoices she sent to other medical specialists she called in to treat the patient.
The dispute centres on the bill she charged for treating Pengiran Anak Hajah Damit, the sister of the Brunei queen, before the patient died of cancer in 2007.
The bills for her last seven months came up to about $25 million. But she has argued the figure was actually lower and included the cost of flying the patient between Singapore and Brunei.
The bill size shocked Singapore's Health Ministry, which filed charges of professional misconduct against her with the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) in 2010.
It led to a protracted battle between Dr Lim and the SMC from January 2010 to December last year, with disciplinary hearings as well as court judgments that upheld the medical tribunal's right to hold the hearings.
Among other things, it emerged in March last year that she tried to stop the disciplinary hearing against her by writing to the Foreign Minister, to alert him that it might expose information that could cause "unnecessary embarrassment" to Brunei and affect bilateral ties.
The case now before the Court of Three Judges is expected to shape up to be the final battle royale. It will give the medical profession the opportunity to clarify issues like what constitutes overcharging.
In her appeal, Dr Lim is not only asking for the penalties to be dismissed. She also wants the court to declare that she is not liable for the costs of the hearings before the disciplinary committees and the Court of Three Judges.
Her lawyer, Senior Counsel Lee Eng Beng, told The Straits Times yesterday she will argue that the SMC's disciplinary committee had made "errors in law and errors of fact" in reaching its decision.
One of her main arguments is that Singapore has no guidelines on the maximum fee that a doctor can charge a patient, and that fees charged are agreed on between a doctor and a patient.
She said in the court papers filed that her patients range from the man in the street to politicians and military leaders of various countries, as well as various members of royal families. She added that she has never been the subject of disciplinary proceedings aside from this conviction.
"I did my very best and went beyond the call of duty for the patient," she said referring to her Brunei patient.
Dr Lim, who is overseas, could not be contacted yesterday. The SMC said it was "not in a position to comment on the matter".
THE Singapore Medical Council has ruled that renowned surgeon Susan Lim be suspended from practising for three years.
She is also to be fined $10,000 in a case involving overcharging a member of the Brunei royal family. She will also be censured in writing and must undertake not to overcharge again.
Dr Lim, 57, is appealing against the punishment, which was revealed in appeal papers she filed in the High Court last week.
The punishment is believed to be among the most severe meted out to an errant doctor, short of being struck off.
She will continue to practise pending the outcome of the appeal. The appeal before the Court of Three Judges is due to be heard in the week of Jan 14 next year.
The court papers, seen by The Straits Times yesterday, revealed that Dr Lim was found guilty last month of 94 charges of professional misconduct.
This included making false representations in some invoices she sent to other medical specialists she called in to treat the patient.
The dispute centres on the bill she charged for treating Pengiran Anak Hajah Damit, the sister of the Brunei queen, before the patient died of cancer in 2007.
The bills for her last seven months came up to about $25 million. But she has argued the figure was actually lower and included the cost of flying the patient between Singapore and Brunei.The bill size shocked Singapore's Health Ministry, which filed charges of professional misconduct against her with the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) in 2010.
It led to a protracted battle between Dr Lim and the SMC from January 2010 to December last year, with disciplinary hearings as well as court judgments that upheld the medical tribunal's right to hold the hearings.
Among other things, it emerged in March last year that she tried to stop the disciplinary hearing against her by writing to the Foreign Minister, to alert him that it might expose information that could cause "unnecessary embarrassment" to Brunei and affect bilateral ties.
The case now before the Court of Three Judges is expected to shape up to be the final battle royale. It will give the medical profession the opportunity to clarify issues like what constitutes overcharging.
In her appeal, Dr Lim is not only asking for the penalties to be dismissed. She also wants the court to declare that she is not liable for the costs of the hearings before the disciplinary committees and the Court of Three Judges.
Her lawyer, Senior Counsel Lee Eng Beng, told The Straits Times yesterday she will argue that the SMC's disciplinary committee had made "errors in law and errors of fact" in reaching its decision.
One of her main arguments is that Singapore has no guidelines on the maximum fee that a doctor can charge a patient, and that fees charged are agreed on between a doctor and a patient.
She said in the court papers filed that her patients range from the man in the street to politicians and military leaders of various countries, as well as various members of royal families. She added that she has never been the subject of disciplinary proceedings aside from this conviction.
"I did my very best and went beyond the call of duty for the patient," she said referring to her Brunei patient.
Dr Lim, who is overseas, could not be contacted yesterday. The SMC said it was "not in a position to comment on the matter".
