A technician with a rash on his lower leg was so horrified to have a doctor diagnose it as a sexually transmitted disease, he went to a hospital's accident and emergency room for a second opinion, the Medical Council heard yesterday.
While visiting Dr Thach Mien-kieu at her Kwun Tong surgery on January 3 this year, the technician was told he had contracted sexually transmitted herpes.
'I told the doctor I had been behaving myself. I hadn't visited prostitutes - so how could I get this disease?' Lam Yan-tat said.
Dr Thach was reprimanded by the council, with chairman Professor Rosie Young Tse-tse saying her diagnosis was not based on sufficient evidence and constituted professional misconduct.
A distressed Mr Lam had rushed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where doctors told him off for using the accident and emergency services. They diagnosed a mild skin disease and reassured the worried husband that his condition was not serious.
He went to the hospital because 'the facilities were good there', and 'the doctor [Dr Thach] told me it [herpes] could be transmitted by air and saliva.