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SCMP Reporter

A LECTURER in dentistry was found guilty yesterday of issuing blank sick leave certificates to a friend.

  Dr Richie Yeung Wai-kit, 34, of the University of Hong Kong's dentistry department, was reprimanded by the Dental Council for unprofessional conduct.

  The council heard that Dr Yeung handed over two blank sick leave certificates to his friend, Tsui Chun-yee, in August 1993.

  One of them was later misused by Tsui's friend, Stella Wong Man-nga. She submitted a two-week sick leave certificate to Cathay Pacific Airways in November 1993 for an upper respiratory infection.

  The company reported the case to the Dental Council because the illness was not normally treated by a dentist, said Senior Crown Counsel Daphne Yeung.

  Tsui and Wong were fined $4,000 each in January this year for making and using a false instrument.

  During yesterday's disciplinary hearing, Dr Yeung said Tsui telephoned him saying he had a swollen face and painful gums.

  'Tsui said he couldn't come to my clinic for consultation and he suggested I bring two sick-leave certificates along to a restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui for an informal examination,' he said.

  He said Tsui suggested keeping the certificates in case he deteriorated the following day.

  Tsui did not use the certificates himself, Dr Yeung said, but he also forgot to hand them back.

  'I am a bit careless. He has been my friend for quite some time and he assured me that he would not use them improperly.'   Council chairman Dr Jeffrey Tsang Yick-sang said: 'Members of this council are quite concerned at the way certificates were given out by the dentist and we have considered a heavy sentence.

  'But in this case there were no advantages gained by the defendant, but it was due to his carelessness.'    Dr Yeung said he would be more cautious in future.



Dentist gave friend blank sick forms