by Judith Tan

DOCTORS were reminded by the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) that they need to get proper consent from patients before treating them, after the council investigated claims that a doctor had sedated a patient before getting consent for a procedure.

Hand surgeon Jonathan Lee Yi Liang was acquitted of this charge but found guilty of professional misconduct and fined $2,000 for not keeping track of how the patient was prescribed diazepam, popularly known by the tradename Valium.

The two charges were in relation to a body contouring procedure known as SmartLipo surgery, carried out by Dr Lee at True'Est located in Ngee Ann City.

Other examples of unethical practices

• Selling sleeping pills like dormicum or eramin at exorbitant prices because the drug addicts need them badly. They do so despite knowing that the SMC does not condone this practice.
• Over-charging patients without explaining clearly how the medical bills were toted up.
• Over-servicing patients by ordering excessive and costly investigations and at times, exposing them to unnecessary X-ray radiation.

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