Struck-off medic fights 3-year ban

A doctor who was struck off the medical register for three years after being found to have misled an Australian surgeon into investing in his practice is fighting to clear his name.

Vincent Ip Kay-lo also argued before the Court of Appeal yesterday that the penalty imposed on him last June - believed to be one of the heaviest set by the Medical Council - was excessive.

The doctor was accused of making false representations to Andrew Koh in June 1999 to induce him to join his medical practice. The council found him guilty of professional misconduct.

Dr Koh claimed he left Sydney on the promise of earning $60,000 a month, but his maximum pay had been $9,000.

Dr Koh said he paid $300,000 for what he believed was a 10 per cent stake in the Admiralty Doctors' Group. He said he was also assured the firm had been operating successfully for eight years, bringing in $5 million a year. Dr Koh said he was later told that his money had been invested in Health Resources Limited, a new venture of the Admiralty Doctors' Group.

He said he was told the venture would involve a new floor of about 10,000 sq ft in Tsim Sha Tsui, where patients would be referred to him for surgery. Instead, he saw only a few surgical patients.