Liposuction death: SMC yet to decide
Since the death - the first here due to a purely aesthetic treatment - the two general practitioners, who have diplomas in dermatology, have renamed their clinic at International Building in Orchard Road from Reves Clinic to Yume Aesthetic & Medical Clinic.
Monday, Jul 22, 2013
The Straits Times
By Salma Khalik
SINGAPORE - Eighteen months have passed since the Health Ministry (MOH) lodged complaints against two doctors involved in the 2009 death of a patient following liposuction treatment.
But the two doctors, Dr Jim Wong Meng Hang and Dr Zhu Xiu Chun, banned from doing liposuction, continue to practise and offer other aesthetic treatments at their renamed clinic. So far little has emerged from the Singapore Medical Council (SMC), with which the MOH filed the complaints.
When queried by The Straits Times, the professional watchdog body said that it can comment on cases only after they end with the doctor being found guilty.
It said: "SMC can only comment on cases which have concluded and where the doctor has been convicted of the charge(s) brought against him... We regret that we are therefore unable to provide further information at this stage."
The Straits Times understands that investigations are ongoing.
Since the death - the first here due to a purely aesthetic treatment - the two general practitioners, who have diplomas in dermatology, have renamed their clinic at International Building in Orchard Road from Reves Clinic to Yume Aesthetic & Medical Clinic.
The doctors are also facing claims of over $1 million from the estate of the late Mr Heng, who was divorced with two young children. The doctors threw in the towel at the pre-trial conference last August, but the amount of compensation has yet to be fixed.
In December 2009, Mr Heng went to Reves Clinic to transfer some of the fat from his abdomen to his chest.
He suffocated as a result of too much anaesthesia given during the treatment, a coroner's inquiry found last year. The coroner also questioned the doctors' note taking, and said the way they monitored the patient was "clearly lacking and inadequate".
An earlier autopsy had found that Dr Wong, who performed the liposuction treatment with the assistance of Dr Zhu, had accidentally punctured Mr Heng's intestines 13 times.
An expert witness at the inquiry said the multiple intestinal punctures showed extremely poor technique and a lack of experience or awareness.
Last month, Madam Mandy Yeong, also 44, died as a result of liposuction at another clinic. There will be a coroner's inquiry into the cause of her death.
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