SINGAPORE, Jan 27 — A Singapore court today sentenced a 76-year-old doctor to one week’s jail after convicting him of molesting a sedated patient following a colonoscopy.
Accoring to a report in Singapore’s The Straits Times, the offence took place on December 24, 2021 in an endoscopy procedure room and was witnessed by two senior staff nurses.
The nurses later reported the incident.
The doctor and the hospital were not named due to a gag order protecting the victim’s identity; she was 20 years old at the time.
The court reportedly found that the doctor used both hands to touch the patient’s breasts under her hospital gown while she was sedated with Dormicum.
District Judge Shawn Ho ruled that there was no medical basis for a breast examination, as the clinical diagnosis was bleeding hemorrhoids.
The judge found the nurses’ testimony credible and noted that the victim was drowsy and unable to give consent, a view supported by independent medical expert evidence.
The court also cited the doctor’s own testimony acknowledging that the sedative would render patients “totally unaware”.
Defence arguments suggesting medical justification or questioning the nurses’ credibility were rejected, with the judge finding no implied consent for the act.
In sentencing, the court considered submissions citing the doctor’s Stage 4 prostate cancer but imposed a custodial term after prosecutors sought jail of up to six weeks.
