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Medical Council of Hong Kong in Wong Chuk Hang

Medical Council raps doctor for sending vulgar e-mails to patient

The Medical Council yesterday condemned a family doctor who sent "vulgar" e-mails to a female patient but found him not guilty of professional misconduct.

LO WEI

The Medical Council yesterday condemned a family doctor who sent "vulgar" e-mails to a female patient but found him not guilty of professional misconduct.

The council heard that the e-mails sent by Dr Andrew Cheung Man-tak included an article which said having sex more often kept people young.

But it said there was no evidence to support the charges that he had an "improper sexual relationship" with the 41-year-old from August 2012 to June 2013, or made a remark of a sexual nature to her last June.

"We are not able to conclude on the evidence that they had developed undue affection for one another," council chairman Professor Joseph Lau Wan-yee said.

But he added: "The defendant should never have sent the vulgar messages to the patient and we make it loud and clear that his conduct is to be condemned."

The complaint was laid by the woman's ex-husband, identified only as X, who said she left home after a row on October 8, 2012, after he saw Cheung - who had been their doctor for two decades - driving her home.

The pair, who have a 15-year-old daughter, divorced in April last year.

Cheung, who was divorced last year, denied having driven her home that night, but admitted he had twice driven her from his Sai Ying Pun clinic to an MTR station after she brought him wine bought at a discount from her company.

X's ex-wife told the council she took a minibus home on the night of October 8 and chatted with a friend in the friend's car afterwards.

While X said their split was very sudden, the ex-wife said they had been arguing for some time and their daughter needed psychological help as a result.

She said Cheung was not the first person X had suspected of having an affair with her.

"Maybe he was unlucky that he became a target," she said.

Cheung said he did not recall sending the e-mail about having sex.

 

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Doctor rapped over 'vulgar' e-mails
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