A doctor has rejected accusations that he made claims to an insurance company for non-existent consultations, saying he had made the diagnoses by telephone. Timothy Teoh Sim-chuan denied a charge of professional misconduct at a Medical Council hearing yesterday. The charge involves four claims Dr Teoh made for the same patient in October 2003. The patient, whose name has been kept confidential, told the hearing that during his first visit to Dr Teoh, on October 8 for depression, anxiety and high blood pressure, he had been prescribed with three days worth of drugs. On his second visit, on October 11, he said it was too time-consuming to visit every three days. 'The nurse told me there was an arrangement between Dr Teoh and the insurance company that he could prescribe drugs for no more than three days for each consultation,' the patient said. 'My understanding is, each voucher was used for one consultation. But the doctor suggested he could prescribe six days' of drugs in exchange for two vouchers. So I used the vouchers to exchange for more drugs to avoid frequent visits to the clinic.' He returned to the clinic on October 17 to use another four vouchers in exchange for 12 days of drugs. Dr Teoh said he had personally seen the patient on October 8, 11 and 17. Dr Teoh also made a diagnosis of the patient over the phone on October 14, 21, 24 and 27. 'Over the phone, the patient was in depressive mood and demanded to have drugs,' Dr Teoh said. 'I told him to come to see me again, but he refused. I felt comfortable and confident in making a medical judgment, and I made prescriptions over the phone.' Dr Teoh said he had hesitated to make claims for consultations done over the phone and had written to the insurance company inquiring about it the next month. But the letter never reached the insurance company, the council heard. The hearing was adjourned last night. A date has not been fixed.