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Mdm Tang
Guest
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Straits Times 15 Nov 2011
GP fined $5,000 for improperly prescribing addictive medicine
Title: GP fined $5,000 for improperly prescribing addictive medicine
Source: Straits Times
Author: Poon Chian Hui
Brothers , this is the 11th case this year.
Work out to x 1 case per month ( ie those who got caught ) .
Bros, why GPs/Doctors in Singapore earning S$10k to S$50k per month
also NOT enough ??? Where all their money go to ??? :(
.
A DOCTOR has been fined $5,000 for prescribing potentially addictive medicine to patients who did not need it.
General practitioner Tan Hui Hoon - whose husband is currently under suspension for a similar offence - also had to promise in writing not to do it again.
The Singapore Medical Council convicted her of improperly prescribing benzodiazepines, which are used to treat anxiety, and mixtures containing codeine. Both are addictive if taken in excess.
In the past two years, the authorities have seized more than 8,000 litres of codeine-laced cough mixtures that were being sold on the black market.
Dr Tan, 50, had a complaint filed against her by the Ministry of Health in November 2009.
While she was waiting for her case to be heard, her husband - with whom she runs the Drs Goh and Tan Family Clinic and Surgery in Bishan - was fined $1,000 and given a three-month suspension, starting last month.
Yesterday, the council released a statement explaining why the wife was handed a lighter punishment. It said she received positive testimonials from patients and fellow doctors, and was convicted of four charges, compared to 13 in the case of her 52-year-old spouse, Dr Goh Ching Luck.
'As such, the matter should be treated less severely,' said the council.
It also accepted that Dr Tan - a first-time offender - did not prescribe the medicines for financial gain but to 'provide compassionate care'.
During mitigation, her lawyer argued that a suspension would be 'unduly harsh' as the clinic is run by the couple.
If both were suspended at once, it would 'effectively put the clinic out of business', and leave them in dire financial straits.
Eleven other doctors have been punished for similar offences this year.
Straits Times 15 Nov 2011
GP fined $5,000 for improperly prescribing addictive medicine
Title: GP fined $5,000 for improperly prescribing addictive medicine
Source: Straits Times
Author: Poon Chian Hui
Brothers , this is the 11th case this year.
Work out to x 1 case per month ( ie those who got caught ) .
Bros, why GPs/Doctors in Singapore earning S$10k to S$50k per month
also NOT enough ??? Where all their money go to ??? :(
.
A DOCTOR has been fined $5,000 for prescribing potentially addictive medicine to patients who did not need it.
General practitioner Tan Hui Hoon - whose husband is currently under suspension for a similar offence - also had to promise in writing not to do it again.
The Singapore Medical Council convicted her of improperly prescribing benzodiazepines, which are used to treat anxiety, and mixtures containing codeine. Both are addictive if taken in excess.
In the past two years, the authorities have seized more than 8,000 litres of codeine-laced cough mixtures that were being sold on the black market.
Dr Tan, 50, had a complaint filed against her by the Ministry of Health in November 2009.
While she was waiting for her case to be heard, her husband - with whom she runs the Drs Goh and Tan Family Clinic and Surgery in Bishan - was fined $1,000 and given a three-month suspension, starting last month.
Yesterday, the council released a statement explaining why the wife was handed a lighter punishment. It said she received positive testimonials from patients and fellow doctors, and was convicted of four charges, compared to 13 in the case of her 52-year-old spouse, Dr Goh Ching Luck.
'As such, the matter should be treated less severely,' said the council.
It also accepted that Dr Tan - a first-time offender - did not prescribe the medicines for financial gain but to 'provide compassionate care'.
During mitigation, her lawyer argued that a suspension would be 'unduly harsh' as the clinic is run by the couple.
If both were suspended at once, it would 'effectively put the clinic out of business', and leave them in dire financial straits.
Eleven other doctors have been punished for similar offences this year.
