Doctor barred from seeing female patients unsupervised
A doctor who was charged with raping and molesting a 23-year-old patient at his clinic has been ordered not to see female patients without a female chaperone present.
He also cannot perform any intimate examinations of female patients. These were the conditions imposed on him by the Singapore Medical Council's (SMC) interim orders committee (IOC).
On Feb 24, Wee Teong Boo, 66, was charged with raping and molesting the patient at his general physician's practice at Wee's Clinic & Surgery in Bedok North Avenue 2 in 2015.
Yesterday, the SMC said it referred the information on the criminal charges to the IOC to determine if it was necessary to suspend Wee's medical registration, or impose conditions or restrictions on his registration to protect the public.
The SMC noted that the general practitioner has not been convicted of his charges and should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
But the council said it considered the seriousness of Wee's charges and the need to protect the public while criminal proceedings are ongoing.
After considering arguments made by lawyers representing Wee and the SMC, the IOC last Saturday imposed the following conditions and restrictions on his registration:
He cannot undertake any consultations of female patients without a chaperone present.
The chaperone must be a fully registered female medical practitioner in Singapore.
Wee also cannot conduct any examinations of the breast, pelvic, genital or anal areas for female patients; such examinations should be performed by the female chaperone.
These conditions will not apply in cases of life-threatening emergencies, said the SMC.
The female chaperone also has to maintain a log detailing the cases where she acts as a chaperone and submit the log to the SMC every two weeks.
Wee was ordered to comply with the conditions and restrictions for 18 months.
The order will be reviewed by the IOC after six months.
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