Singapore, Jan 11 (IANS): An Indian-born doctor with 35 years of experience has been suspended from practicing medicine for three years by Singapore’s Disciplinary Tribunal for inappropriately prescribing long-term sedatives to patients.
Maninder Singh Shahi, 61, a general practitioner at Marine Parade Clinic, has pleaded guilty to 14 charges of professional misconduct relating to his conduct between 2002 and 2016, the Channel reported. News Asia (CNA) reported on Thursday.
On January 9, a three-member tribunal accepted the Singapore Medical Council’s (SMC) suspension application and ordered Mr Shahi to be arraigned.
He will also be required to provide SMC with a written undertaking that he will not repeat his actions and will pay his legal costs.
Of the seven patients to whom Shahi inappropriately prescribed long-term sedatives, three were elderly.
The three-judge court heard Shahi ran an “extremely busy” clinic, seeing between 40 and 70 patients a day and inappropriately prescribing benzodiazepines, zopiclone and zolpidem.
Additionally, he failed to refer patients or refer them to psychiatrists or medical professionals in a timely manner and did not keep sufficient details in the patients’ medical records.
Benzodiazepines treat a variety of conditions such as insomnia and anxiety, while zolpidem and zopiclone are non-benzodiazepine drugs that treat insomnia.
CNA reported that Shahi prescribed benzodiazepines to one of his patients suffering from insomnia, along with medications including opioid painkillers such as codeine, for longer than the recommended four-week period.
If benzodiazepines are prescribed repeatedly, physicians must clearly document certain aspects in the patient’s medical record.
SMC said Mr Shahi exposed the patient to a substantial possibility of serious injury or harm.
To make himself feel better, Shahi said he was not motivated by profit or greed and wanted to help his patients by prescribing hypnotics.
Mr Shahi also claimed that he tried to refer three patients to a psychiatrist, but they were not keen to do so.
The court took into account Mr Shahi’s long and clean record, his guilty pleas and his cooperation with authorities, but said he should be given a shorter sentence because of the delay in prosecution which caused him mental anguish, anxiety and distress. Shahi’s claims were rejected.
It said Mr Shahi’s prolonged assault would have placed the patient at a “very real risk” of developing benzodiazepine dependence, despite there being no evidence that any actual harm was caused to the patient.