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DPP pushes for stiffer sentence for doctor

This article is more than 12 months old

Prosecutors are appealing for a stiffer sentence for a "defiant" doctor, who continued to sell codeine-laced cough syrup even while he was under investigation for doing so.

Tan Gek Young sold more than 2,300 litres of cough mixture from his Bedok clinic, one of the highest quantities of such illegal sales. He paid about $39 for a gallon, which he sold for over $1,000.

The 61-year-old permanent resident made profits totalling more than $600,000 from the illicit sales between January 2014 and June 2015.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Tan Wen Hsien sought at least three years' jail and a $145,000 fine for Tan, to send a strong deterrent message to medical professionals thinking of lining their pockets by selling cough mixture at huge mark-ups.

While Tan was being investigated, he continued selling cough mixture and even scaled up his racket by selling it by the gallon instead of the usual 90ml bottles. The DPP said the original sentence of two years' jail and a $130,000 fine was manifestly inadequate. - THE STRAITS TIMES

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