Dr Ang Yong Guan v Singapore Medical Council

Case Significance

Ang Yong Guan v Singapore Medical Council and another matter [2024] SGHC 126 was decided by the Court of 3 Judges of the General Division of the High Court of Singapore on 13 May 2024, with judgment delivered by Sundaresh Menon CJ sitting with Tay Yong Kwang JCA and Belinda Ang Saw Ean JCA, following a hearing on 16 November 2023 in Originating Applications Nos 8 and 9 of 2023. Dr Ang Yong Guan, a psychiatrist, issued a number of prescriptions to his former patient, the late Mr Quek Kiat Siong, that were not in conformity with various guidelines promulgated by the Ministry of Health; the patient passed away four days after the last prescription was issued. A complaint led the Singapore Medical Council to bring three charges of professional misconduct under s 53(1)(d) of the Medical Registration Act (Cap 174, 2014 Rev Ed) and three alternative charges under s 53(1)(e). In Singapore Medical Council v Dr Ang Yong Guan [2023] SMCDT 2, the Disciplinary Tribunal acquitted Dr Ang of the three s 53(1)(d) professional misconduct charges but convicted him of the three alternative s 53(1)(e) professional services charges, imposing sanctions that notably included a suspension from practice.