Suspension for S’pore doctor who drove after drinking and tried to swop seats before police checks

A Singaporean doctor receives a four-month suspension from medical practice after attempting to pervert justice over a drink-driving incident. Read more at straitstimes.com.

SINGAPORE - A doctor has been suspended from medical practice for four months following his failed attempt to swop seats with his front seat passenger before reaching a police roadblock, as he had been driving after drinking beer.

Dr Nah Kwang Meng Joshua, who had been practising at Dr Nah & Lee Family Clinic in Woodlands, was fined $4,000 in October 2023 after he pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to perform an act that could pervert the course of justice.

Following Dr Nah’s conviction at the State Courts, the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) on Jan 19 brought him before a disciplinary tribunal, which found him guilty of an improper act or conduct which brings disrepute to the profession.

The tribunal chaired by Dr Tham Tat Yean, chief executive of a general practitioner chain, censured and suspended Dr Nah from practising for four months.

In the tribunal’s decision grounds published on March 2, it was revealed that Dr Nah drank about three to four glasses of beer over dinner on July 14, 2022.

After the dinner and as he was driving along Sophia Road towards Upper Wilkie Road with a male passenger in the front seat, he spotted a police roadblock at around 11.24pm.