Surgeon Susan Lim’s appeal against suspension ruling dismissed
Prominent cancer surgeon Susan Lim’s final attempt to avoid being suspended for professional misconduct for overcharging was thwarted Monday.
The Straits Times reported that Singapore's Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal filed by the oncologist, capping a costly and drawn-out legal tussle over whether or not she had violated ethical limits on medical fees when she charged a member of Brunei's royal family some $24.8 million for several months of cancer treatment.
Last August, Dr Lim was sentenced to a three-year suspension from practice and a $10,000 fine after being found guilty of 94 charges of professional misconduct brought against her by the Ministry of Health. This was upheld by the Court of Appeal.
Her charges included the the fact that Lim marked up a series of third-party medical bills by as much a 500 times, accrued to Pengiran Anak Hajah Damit, the Brunei queen's sister, in the course of treatment for her breast cancer. The latter passed away from her illness in 2007.
In their judgment, the three Court of Appeal justices reportedly said Dr Lim's case was "clearly one of the most serious cases — if not the most serious case so far — of overcharging in the medical profession in the local context".
They also ruled that given a doctor's knowledge and training, he or she is bound by ethical obligation not take advantage of his or her patient. This obligation is not overridden by any valid agreements between the doctor and his or her patient, it added.
The judges also reportedly dismissed her arguments that her bills were justified, and that there was no ethical obligation on the part of a doctor to charge a fair and reasonable amount, noting that her approach to the appeal showed that she had no remorse in what she had done.
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