SINGAPORE: On Monday (Feb 17), Ang Yong Guan posted a video to announce the closure of his clinic at Paragon Medical Singapore, where he had practised psychiatry since 2005. During that time, he treated almost 7000 patients.
On Feb 5, the Court of Three Judges announced that Dr Ang had been given a three-year suspension for having prescribed medication to a patient that exceeded the maximum dosage.
“Today is my last day,” said Dr Ang, adding that he needed to vacate his clinic since the landlord had already found a new tenant.
However, the Singapore Medical Council has yet to give him the exact start date for his suspension, he said. In the meantime, he will continue to practise at Novena Medical Centre for the next few weeks.
“It’s so sad, but life has to go on. Thank you to all those who have been supporting me all these years… It is with a heavy heart that I am closing my clinic,” he said.
Dr Ang is a politician as well as a physician. He was the Head of Training and Development for the Progress Singapore Party from 2020 to 2023 — and was appointed the PSP’s Second Assistant Secretary-General in April 2023. Earlier, he was with the Singapore Democratic Party in 2011 and SingFirst in 2014. He contested in the past three General Elections, first at Holland–Bukit Timah GRC and then at Tanjong Pagar GRC. In 2020, he narrowly lost at Marymount SMC.
He was also given a Public Service Medal in 1995 after he had served as a community leader at Kembangan and assisted former MP George Yeo for 15 years. Dr Ang, who had been a colonel with the Singapore Armed Forces, also received the Public Administration Medal in 1996.
Dr Ang had served as the Chief Psychiatrist of the Psychological Medicine Branch of the SAF before he retired in 2003.
Ang Yong Guan’s legal troubles
Dr Ang’s legal troubles date back to 2012. One of his patients, Quek Kiat Siong, died of multiple organ failure four days after he was issued a prescription for 60mg of Mirtazapine and 25mg of Zolpidem Controlled Release, with both medications to be taken daily.
The allowed maximum daily dosage of Mirtazapine is 45mg while for Zolpidem Controlled Release it is 12.5mg.
The psychiatrist had been treating Mr Quek for a number of conditions, which included insomnia, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety.
Dr Ang had initially been given a two-year suspension by the disciplinary tribunal convened by the Singapore Medical Council, which both he and the SMC appealed against. Last year, the Court of Three Judges found Dr Ang guilty on three charges of professional misconduct, and on Feb 19, set aside the original sentence, imposing instead a three-year sentence. /TISG
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