AN 82-YEAR-OLD doctor has been suspended for a year and fined $10,000 for supplying cough syrup to three Malaysian gangsters who were not his patients.

Benny Cheng Shao Lin had sold the equivalent of 500 120ml bottles of Dhasedyl cough syrup on three occasions in March 2012, gaining $4,000 in total profits.

At that time, he was a registered medical practitioner at the Clifford Dispensary Jurong clinic at Block 176, Boon Lay Drive.

Under the Poisons Act, a medical practitioner may supply Dhasedyl syrup only for the purposes of treating his patients.

Dr Cheng had pleaded guilty to five charges under the Poisons Act at a Singapore Medical Council (SMC) disciplinary tribunal inquiry held on Jan 5, said SMC yesterday. Another 37 charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

Calling his offences serious, the tribunal noted that the quantity of cough syrup sold was not small and sales had continued for slightly more than three months. It also noted that Dr Cheng had profited from the sales and must have known that the cough syrup would end up being sold to the public.

As such, he had “abused the trust that society reposes in doctors to dispense medicine responsibly”, the tribunal added.

Dr Cheng’s mitigation that he had sold the cough syrup to the gangsters out of “grave fear and duress” due to their threats was of little weight to the tribunal, SMC said.

It found that he had enough time to think over their demands over a few days and report the matter to the authorities.

It added that Dr Cheng had in fact made a “conscious decision” to transact with the gangsters without any regard to the harm that could be caused to the public by peddling the cough syrup.

However, the tribunal considered the fact that Dr Cheng, who had practised medicine for 45 years, had closed his clinic and retired in April 2012 to avoid further encounters with the gangsters.

For his offences, he was also censured and required to give a written undertaking to the SMC that he would not engage in the same or similar conduct again. He was also ordered to pay the costs of and related to the inquiry.

His suspension took effect on Feb 17 and will run to Feb 16 next year.

nghuiwen@sph.com.sg

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There will be a standard, no-frills medical insurance plan pegged at the cost of private B1 class in public hospitals from May 1.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said yesterday the plan will be offered by all five insurers that have IPs – private medical plans integrated with MediShield Life.

This follows the recommendation of the MediShield Life Review Committee for such a plan to “give Singaporeans an option for enhanced coverage beyond the basic MediShield Life level in a standardised, affordable and easily understood package”.

But while the benefits of the plan are identical, the premiums the insurers charge differ – by as much as $1,683 a year.

MOH said this is due to “each insurer’s commercial considerations and risk assessment frameworks”.

MediShield Life, launched last November, covers all 3.9 million Singaporeans and permanent residents for life.

Of them, almost two in three have also bought IPs that cover them for private treatments. Private hospital IPs account for 56 per cent, A class 25 per cent and B1 19 per cent.

Patients in B1 class can choose their doctor but those in subsidised B2 or C cannot. Four patients share an air-conditioned room in B1 while 6-10 share a non-air-conditioned room in B2 and C.

There are currently seven B1 IPs, of which three no longer accept new policy holders. Of the four taking in new ones, three are “as charged” plans, which means there is no cap on treatment costs.

The new standard no-frills B1 plan has claims limits, such as $1,700 a day for a patient in a B1 ward, and $2,900 a day in intensive care.

Like MediShield Life, it also does not pay for pre- and post-hospital treatment.

The majority of IPs do cover such costs, usually for three to four months after discharge.

MOH said the standard plan should be able to fully pay for 90 per cent of all B1 bills. The five insurers will send letters to existing B1 policy holders to offer them the choice of switching to the standard plan.

They will not raise premiums for the standard B1 plan for two years. Currently, these premiums can be fully paid for with Medisave, at least up to the age of 75.

The amount of Medisave that can be used is the MediShield Life premium plus $300 to $900 depending on the age group.

Khoo Kah Siang, president of the Life Insurance Association of Singapore, said the plan will appeal to people who want more coverage than MediShield Life, or who want to downsize from their existing private plans.

He added that people should not look only at premiums when deciding on an IP as these are not guaranteed and insurers “may raise premiums differently over time”.

salma@sph.com.sg

Related: Q&A: MediShield Life and Integrated Shield Plans

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The number of cyclists hurt or killed in traffic accidents has been rising over the past three years.

Experts attribute it to a rise in the number of cyclists and a lack of infrastructure and education.

Last year, 17 cyclists or their pillion riders were killed in accidents, up from 15 each in 2014 and 2013, according to the latest statistics from the Traffic Police.

The number of those injured also rose, by 17 per cent from 503 in 2014 to 590 last year. In 2013, 436 were hurt.

The growing number of electric bikes is also a concern.

In Parliament on Monday, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said in a written reply that the number of accidents involving power-assisted bikes increased from six in 2013 to 27 last year. Five of those accidents last year were fatal.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said it will be increasing penalties for those who misuse these bikes.

A panel headed by the LTA is also expected to announce new rules and guidelines soon, that will govern the use of such devices here.

Love Cycling SG co-founder Francis Chu said: “With more people using bikes for commuting or leisure, immediately, you can foresee capacity issues for the park connectors and the pavements.

“With more users in the same space, it is hard to avoid conflict.”

A lack of education on safe cycling has also contributed to the rise in accidents involving cyclists.

“We are still seeing cyclists running (traffic) lights,” said Steven Lim, president of the Safe Cycling Task Force.

“Groups and clubs have a social responsibility to educate their members against behaviour like this.”

dansonc@sph.com.sg

Related: At least 3 cyclists caught breaking rules each day

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Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

Video screengrabs

North-South Expressway reconfigured for cyclists, pedestrians, and bus commuters

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The Straits Times, LTA, Ministry of Transport

In what could be a sign of worse things to come, more workers lost their jobs last year amid weaker economic conditions, although unemployment remained low.

A total of 15,580 workers were laid off in 2015, the fifth consecutive year of rising redundancies, according to full- year official data released by the Manpower Ministry (MOM) yesterday.

Last year’s number climbed 20 per cent from 12,930 in 2014 and was the highest since the 2009 global financial crisis, which saw 23,430 workers laid off.

Job vacancies also fell to 53,700 as of December after accounting for seasonal variation, down 18 per cent from 65,500 a year earlier.

The trend could continue. “Amid the cyclical weakness and as the economy restructures, some consolidation and exit of businesses is expected,” MOM said.

Just over half, or 51 per cent, of the Singaporeans and permanent residents (PRs) made redundant from July to September last year were back in employment by the end of the year.

This figure measures the re-entry rates within six months of redundancy based on Central Provident Fund (CPF) records, and was down from 55 per cent three months earlier and 59 per cent at the end of 2014.

Still, the unemployment rate last year remained unchanged for Singaporeans, at 2.9 per cent. The figure including PRs was 2.8 per cent, up from 2.7 per cent in 2014.

There were 2,268,900 Singaporeans and PRs in jobs in Singapore as of the end of last year, just 700 more than there were a year earlier – when local employment had grown by 96,000.

With employment of foreigners also slowing, the total number of workers here stood at 3,656,200 at the end of last year.

For the year ahead, MOM expects redundancies to continue to rise in sectors facing weak external demand and that are undergoing restructuring, while domestic services sectors are likely to continue to need workers.

The Ministry added that it is “closely monitoring the current economic and labour market situation, and is strengthening employment support to help displaced locals re-enter employment”.

joseow@sph.com.sg

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