Singapore Medical Council suspends surgeon Dr Woffles Wu for four months

Singapore plastic surgeon Dr Woffles Wu has been suspended from practice for four months, according to a statement released by the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) on Monday.

The SMC, which regulates the professional conduct and ethics of medical practitioners here, imposed the suspension penalty after Wu was found guilty in 2012 for getting an employee to take the rap for him for two speeding tickets.

In the statement, the SMC said that Wu “was subverting the course of justice through his act of dishonesty“ and that he had “tarnished the good name of the profession”.

The 54-year-old surgeon was found guilty on two charges involving fraud and dishonesty, and he was fined $1,000 by the courts in June 2012.

Based on the court case, in 2006, Wu asked his employee, Kuan Kit Wah, then 76, to lie to the police and claim that he, Kuan, was behind the wheel of the doctor’s car when it was caught speeding that year and in 2005.

The SMC had conducted a disciplinary tribunal inquiry on 21 February 2014. In making its decision, the disciplinary tribunal noted that there were several aggravating factors in the case, such as Wu’s seniority and standing in the medical profession.

During the inquiry proceedings, Wu had made a speech to the tribunal, where he said that he thought it was a common practice to furnish false information to the Traffic Police for such offences and that even some senior medical practitioners were doing so.

The tribunal said that it was “alarmed” by his thought process and his lack of remorse over his actions. 

Wu has his own practice, Woffles Wu Aesthetic Surgery & Laser Centre, at Camden Medical Centre. He is suspended from practice from 24 March 2014 to 23 July 2014.