A doctor convicted of theft and improper drug labelling has had an application to resume practising rejected. Dr Kwan Chee-keung, 47, had his licence suspended for nine months in 1998 over a theft conviction and improper drug labelling. Five years earlier he was reprimanded by the Medical Council for ordering an X-ray for a patient although she had already had one taken that day. The council heard another charge against Dr Kwan yesterday - that he improperly labelled medicine and dispensed the wrong one to a patient. On March 6 and 26, 1998, Dr Kwan gave a patient prednisolone, a steroid drug, which was labelled as lysozyme, a mild drug used in conjunction with other medicine, to treat her asthma and menstrual pains, the council heard. Dr Kwan's legal counsel, Woody Chang Wah-yan, painted the patient, surnamed Ng, as 'a completely unreliable witness' during yesterday's council hearing. The council heard Ms Ng became angry with Dr Kwan after he refused to write her a 14-day sick leave note for a sprained ankle. On that day, March 26, Ms Ng visited the clinic, complaining of menstrual pains. Mr Chang also suggested that a nurse, whom Dr Kwan fired at the end of March 1998, had collaborated with Ms Ng to put blame on the doctor. He said it was possible the nurse knew about the label switch. 'There was a motive for the nurse to do so,' said Mr Chang, adding the doctor had taken more care in dispensing drugs since his suspension in 1995. However, the council believed Ms Ng was 'a truthful witness' and found Dr Kwan guilty of professional misconduct. Council chairman Dr Lee Kin-hung said: 'In the light of a serious substantiated complaint against Dr Kwan and of his poor previous records, the council decides to refuse his application for registration to the General Register.'
