SINGAPORE – The prosecution has called for between 1½ and two years’ jail for a doctor who performed a negligent act that led to a patient’s death after an aesthetic treatment in 2019.
Court documents stated that Chan Bingyi, 37, intravenously administered ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) to property agent Lau Li Ting, 31, on March 8 that year, when there was no need to do so.
EDTA should be used only if there are specific indications of certain conditions, such as heavy metal poisoning or elevated calcium levels, and must be administered only by clinicians trained in its use, the court heard.
Ms Lau, who had no underlying medical conditions, developed EDTA toxicity, which led to cardiac arrest, and she died in Singapore General Hospital (SGH) five days later.
On April 21, Deputy Public Prosecutor Thaddeus Tan noted that Ms Lau was the one who had asked Chan to perform a “chelation” treatment, involving the use of EDTA to bind to metallic ions and extract them from the body.
Stressing that Chan knew EDTA could cause complications, the DPP told the court that the doctor was “not a common vendor where the customer was always right”.
The prosecutor also said that Chan had shown a disregard for Ms Lau’s safety.
Defence lawyer Adrian Wee from Lighthouse Law, however, urged the court to sentence his client to between six and eight months’ jail.
He added: “This was not a case in which (Ms Lau) had been a complete novice who had been introduced to EDTA chelation therapy by Dr Chan.
“There was evidence that (she) had undergone EDTA chelation therapy previously without incident… Dr Chan had himself performed over a hundred EDTA chelation therapies without incident.”
Mr Wee also said that Chan had acted without malice, and there was no evidence of any systemic disregard for patient safety.
He added that the doctor had taken “appropriate and diligent steps” when he discovered that Ms Lau had a seizure.
