Prominent oncologist Ang Peng Tiam suspended
for professional misconduct
SINGAPORE: Prominent
oncologist Dr Ang Peng Tiam has been suspended for eight months on Tuesday (Jun
27) over charges of professional misconduct.
In April 2010, a
55-year-old woman with lung cancer consulted Dr Ang, the medical director of
Parkway Cancer Centre, who told her there was “at least a 70 per cent chance
that her disease would respond to treatment and achieve control” with
chemotherapy and targeted therapy.
Dr Ang, 59, did not offer
her the option of surgery – despite the fact that surgery was the preferred
initial treatment for patients suffering from the same stage of cancer,
according to the Singapore Medical Council (SMC).
The patient underwent the
prescribed treatment, but her cancer spread and she died six months later. Her
family then lodged a complaint with the SMC against Dr Ang.
Four charges of professional
misconduct were brought against him in April 2015. In July 2016, he was
convicted of two of the charges by a disciplinary tribunal appointed by the
SMC, and fined S$25,000.
Dr Ang appealed to the
Court of Three Judges against his conviction. The SMC also appealed for the
fine to be substituted with a six-month suspension for each of the two charges.
On Tuesday, the court
upheld Dr Ang’s convictions, but allowed the SMC’s appeal and substituted the
fine with an eight-month suspension for both charges.
PATIENTS SHOULD BE INFORMED
OF VIABLE TREATMENT OPTIONS: COURT
In its judgment, the court
said that while doctors should evaluate the pros and cons of various treatments
and may depart from guidelines when there are good reasons, patients should
still be informed of the viable treatment options available to them.
“A doctor might believe
that a particular treatment option is in his patient’s best interests, but
ultimately, it is the patient who must make the decision on her treatment,” the
court said.
Dr Ang had also admitted
before the SMC disciplinary tribunal that surgery was the only prospect of cure
for the patient’s cancer, and that she might have up to a 20 per cent chance of
cure had she undergone initial surgery.
The court also upheld the
disciplinary tribunal’s finding that Dr Ang had offered the patient and her
family false hope. Dr Ang had presented an optimistic picture that she was
likely to have her disease under control with his prescribed therapy, when he
did not in fact have any reasonable basis for such optimism, the SMC said.
On sentencing, the court
considered the fact that the SMC had taken four-and-a-half years to serve the
notice of inquiry on Dr Ang after it received the complaint against him. It
held that the delay had caused Dr Ang anxiety and distress with the proceedings
hanging over his head.
The court decided that an
appropriate sentence would have been a 16-month suspension, but taking into
account the “inordinate delay”, decided to halve the suspension to eight months.
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