Doctor barred from practising for 3 months
A gynaecologist has been barred from practising for three months after she burned a woman's genitals while treating her for a venereal disease she did not have.
Gan Mie-fang, 62, was found guilty on a charge of professional misconduct by the Medical Council last night in the first case against a private doctor for not seeking a patient's consent in prescribing a treatment.
Council chairwoman Felice Lieh Mak said the case was serious because it called into question the trust between patients and doctors.
'As trust is violated in this case, professionalism is affected as well,' she said.
The council heard the doctor conducted electrocautery treatment on the woman at her clinic in Tsuen Wan on May 23, 2005, after diagnosing a venereal disease.
A doctor who saw the woman the next day said she was suffering from a common vaginal infection and had no sign of venereal disease.
The council rejected the doctor's claim that the patient could have walked away from the treatment.
'When the patients and the doctors come together, their relationship is about trust. Even when pain is experienced, patients would make their very best effort to comply with the doctors,' Professor Lieh Mak said.
The council also dismissed the defence claim that the patient had an inaccurate memory about the operation's duration, saying it was reasonable to allow for a discrepancy as she had been in pain.
It said Dr Gan had kept an ambiguous record of the treatment and had failed to explain the procedures and comply with her duties.
Giving evidence in December, the patient - identified as Madam A - said she had no idea Dr Gan planned to perform the operation when she injected an anaesthetic.
Dr Gan had previously received a suspended sentence for failing to keep a proper record of a dangerous drug, the council said.
