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MMC REMOVES PSYCHIATRIST FROM MEDICAL REGISTER AFTER SUSPENSION FOR SEXUALLY HARASSING FEMALE PATIENT
A medical news portal published an article written by Boo Su-Lyn today, Tuesday 24 December 2024, stating MMC had removed a psychiatrist from the medical register, due to a one-year suspension for sexually harassing his patient. But MMC has yet to issue a public notice on its website about his suspension, after the November 19 judgment by its disciplinary board.
The said portal, CodeBlue, said the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) has removed a consultant psychiatrist from the medical register, due to his suspension for a year after sexually harassing his patient.
According to a November 19, 2024 judgement by MMC Disciplinary Board 4 chairwoman Prof Emerita Dr Nor Hayati Othman, as sighted by the medical news portal as claimed, the disciplinary board (DB) recommended to the Council a one-year suspension of Dr GS from the medical register after finding him guilty of “serious professional misconduct”. This followed a complaint filed five years ago by his female patient, Ms H, now aged 30.
The DB found that Dr GS did send lewd text messages in June 2019 to Ms H, who was in a “vulnerable emotional and mental state” — as stated in the charge against the medical practitioner of engaging his patient in an “emotional and sexual relationship” in contravention of Section 2.2.4 of MMC’s Code of Professional Conduct that prohibits personal relationships between practitioners and patients.
“It is improper for the Respondent as a medical practitioner to engage in a sexual or emotional relationship with any patient, let alone a patient undergoing treatment for mental health matters,” the DB wrote in its judgement.
Dr GS, who was practising then at a private hospital in Selangor, had diagnosed Ms H, a rape survivor, as having post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Section 2.2.4 of MMC’s Code of Professional Conduct states: “A practitioner must not enter into an emotional or sexual relationship, or any act which may be interpreted as sexual harassment with a patient (or with a member of a patient’s family) which disrupts that patient’s family life or otherwise damages, or causes distress to, the patient or his or her family.”
“Please be informed that the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) has made a finding of serious professional misconduct against [Dr GS] under section 29(2)(b) of the Medical Act 1971. As a result, the said practitioner has been suspended from the register under section 30(1)(c) of the Medical Act 1971 for a period of one year,” MMC’s ethics & legal division (BEP) told CodeBlue yesterday.
“The suspension takes effect from the date the punishment letter is received by the said practitioner. However, the order will only be formally endorsed against the practitioner’s name in the registry and published on the MMC website after the expiry of the 30-day period from the date of communication of the decision to the practitioner, within which the practitioner may exercise his right to appeal to the High Court under Section 31 of the Medical Act 1971.”
When asked for specific dates of when Dr GS’ one-year suspension took effect and would expire, and about the absence of a public notice or press release on MMC’s website, BEP replied, “Please be informed that our response remains as stated in our previous email dated 23.12.2024. Further information will be made available on our website in due course.”
In two lists of disciplinary punishments by MMC for this year, from January to December, that were published on its website, Dr GS was not named, but five other medical practitioners instead.
On December 18, the medical news portal asked MMC why Dr GS was still listed on the medical register on its Medical Register Information and Technical System (MeRITS) website – without any indication of his suspension – and why the psychiatrist had a 2025 annual practising certificate (APC).
Yesterday, Dr GS could no longer be found on the medical register on the MeRITS website, based on a search by the medical news portal of his name and full registration number. (Note: the MMC merely suspended Dr GS under Section 30(1)(c) of the Medical Act; he was not struck off the register under Section 30(1)(e)).
Dr GS is still listed on the National Specialist Register (NSR) at the time of writing.
Complainant Claims Psychiatrist Still Practising, Right Opposite Her House
Ms H told CodeBlue that according to her lawyer, who received the grounds of MMC’s judgement, Dr GS’ one-year suspension would have taken effect last November 19, the date when the DB made its recommendation to the Council for the punishment.
Ms H alleged that Dr GS was still actively seeing patients at his psychiatric clinic in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, “horrifyingly right opposite my house”, according to a WhatsApp conversation by her contact asking Dr GS’ clinic for an appointment with the suspended psychiatrist on 26 or 27 December.
“We have a slot at 2pm on the 27th. Is that ok?” Dr GS’ clinic answered the person last Friday, based on the screenshot shared by Ms H with CodeBlue.
When CodeBlue called Dr GS’ private clinic yesterday to ask about available appointment dates for Dr GS, a person who answered the phone call replied that the psychiatrist is “not taking any new patients.” The person declined to provide Dr GS’ medical registration number.
Dr GS’ place of practice was listed in his initial entry on the MeRITS website, before MMC removed his name from the medical register. A suspension means that a doctor is barred from practice for a certain period of time, regardless of whether they want to see existing or new patients.
In January 2023, the Magistrate’s Court in Petaling Jaya acquitted Dr GS – without calling for his defence – of insulting Ms H’s modesty by allegedly uttering obscene words at her. The psychiatrist was charged under Section 509 of the Penal Code that prohibits the insulting of the modesty of any person.
MMC’s DB noted that even though Dr GS was found not guilty by the court, it was of the view that this was not relevant to its inquiry and “this DB is only concerned with the matter under its purview, and findings and decisions by this DB are based on the evidence before this DB.”
“What has been especially devastating for me, both mentally and emotionally, is the toll of pursuing justice. The legal process was grueling and retraumatising. I had to face [Dr GS] and his lawyers repeatedly, subjected to their abuse and relentless tearing apart of my testimony during cross-examination,” Ms H told CodeBlue.
“Every time I was forced to relive the traumatic events and defend myself, it felt like an additional violation. The emotional and psychological strain of having to confront this man and his team, who attempted to discredit and undermine me at every turn, made the pursuit of accountability not just difficult, but at times unbearable.
“Despite the immense emotional toll of this fight, I pressed on, hoping for a fair outcome. But to see [Dr GS] receive only a one-year suspension, with no real accountability for the harm he caused, is devastating. A one-year suspension is not only inadequate, but also dangerously lenient for a health care professional who abused his position of power to exploit a vulnerable patient.”
Ms H said when she saw Dr GS in 2019, she was already struggling with severe anxiety, depression, PTSD, and suicidal thoughts, following a traumatic rape incident.
“I strongly feel that a three-year suspension should be the minimum penalty, alongside a fine and a public notice of his suspension. Ideally, he should be completely struck off the registrar, as I am not the only victim of his sexual harassment,” Ms H told CodeBlue.
“To make matters worse, there has been no public notice of his suspension, and he is actively attempting to clear his name by telling others that he was acquitted and that no charges stuck.”
The DB’s November 19 judgement stated – as grounds for its recommendation of a one-year suspension – that it took into consideration Dr GS’ plea of mitigation, as he acknowledged that his behaviour was “inappropriate”; he has been “severely punished” due to loss of work, income, and reputation; and he expressed remorse.
MMC’s Lists Of Disciplinary Punishments: No Dates Of Effect Or Expiry Of Suspensions
It is unclear if the MMC has ever published announcements or press r we zzzeleases, or issued circulars to the medical profession, about the suspension or striking off of practitioners from the register – so as to inform both practitioners and the general public that a particular doctor is barred from practice.
While the MMC’s website does provide annual lists of disciplinary punishments meted out to medical practitioners, its lists from 2022 to 2024 are simply scanned copies of printed documents, with some of the listed names not turning up in web searches.
On the other hand, the Bar Council publishes on its website all adverse disciplinary orders by the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board (ASDB), listing the names of legal practitioners in a scannable format that turn up in web searches. The Bar Council also issues circulars to members of the Malaysian Bar on members who are struck off the roll of advocates and solicitors.
In the Bar Council’s lists of disciplinary orders by month, the lists specify the date of the order, when the order takes effect (usually 21 days from the date of the order for striking off and suspensions), and when the lawyer’s suspension expires.
Yet, in the medical profession, the 2023 listing of a doctor who was suspended for 18 months does not state when the suspension would take effect or when it would expire, only stating the date of the disciplinary board’s inquiry during which it made its judgement. In a 2022 case of a medical practitioner who was struck off the register, MMC’s list of disciplinary punishments does not state when her striking-off order took effect either.
In a third case of a medical practitioner who was suspended from the medical register for 18 months under Section 30(1)(c) of the Medical Act, following a disciplinary board inquiry on August 4, 2022, his name curiously is still absent from the register on the MeRITS site.
It is unclear why MMC’s official lists of disciplinary punishments omit basic details on when a medical practitioner is barred from practising or allowed to resume practice after a suspension, especially given rising awards in medical malpractice suits.
In determining the date of effect of punishment based on when the practitioner receives their letter, MMC’s statement to CodeBlue did not specify the process (i.e. whether the practitioner is expected to inform MMC that they have received their letter or if such letters are physically served onto the doctor like court papers).
MMC’s president is Datuk Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan (picture, above), who is also the Health director-general.
On his clinic’s website, Dr GS – simply named by his first two initials and a name that wasn’t mentioned in news reports of his criminal trial, his listing on the NSR, or his initial listing on the medical register – is described as a “practicing medical doctor and psychiatrist”.
The appearance and act on the above video are for illustration purpose only.
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