Dr Susan Lim fails to stop second disciplinary hearing
Surgeon Susan Lim has failed in her attempt to get the High Court to stop the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) from appointing a second disciplinary committee to investigate a complaint that she had overcharged a female patient from Brunei's royal family.
In a written judgment on Thursday, Justice Philip Pillai said Dr Lim failed to establish any proof that the second disciplinary committee was illegal or biased, The Straits Times reported.
The first disciplinary committee formed by SMC in 2010 to look into the complaint was disbanded before giving a verdict after lawyers of Dr Lim accused the committee of pre-judging the case.
The justice said the Medical Regulation Act (MRA) does empower the SMC to appoint a second disciplinary committee upon the revocation of the appointment of the entire first disciplinary committee.
Since the first disciplinary committee had not issued any findings and decision, the power of the SMC to appoint a disciplinary committee under the MRA has not been spent, he said.
In late March, the High Court heard that Dr Lim, who is facing 94 charges of professional misconduct by the Ministry of Health, allegedly marked up bills of third-party doctors for her patient, the cousin of Brunei's Sultan and sister of his queen, by as much as 500 times.
Dr Lim's lawyer, senior counsel Lee Eng Beng, described the allegations as "false and mischievous".
