TCM Doctor at Tiong Bahru Saw 6 Patients During Circuit Breaker; Charged & Fined 10K

Happy one year to the circuit breaker period, which left many moping around at home.

With the simple mention of ‘no bubble tea’, most would remember the times where people started to go a little crazy when non-essential services were to be closed.

It’s a little known fact, but not all clinics were allowed to remain open during that time – traditional Chinese medicine practitioners are actually considered to be non-essential services.

So if you visited one during the circuit breaker period because you were sick and thought of it to fall under the umbrella of essential healthcare services, you just might’ve been wrong.

TCM Doctor Fined For Operating During Circuit Breaker

Nie Xin, a 46-year-old female Chinese doctor, now faces seven charges against the COVID-19 Temporary Measures Act for operating during the circuit breaker period.

After admitting to three of the charges, with the rest being considered for sentencing, she was slapped with a fine of S$10,500.

When the circuit breaker began on 7 April last year, regulations stipulated by the Ministry of Health required non-essential services to close, including Chinese medicine stores and TCM practitioners.

Some could remain open if they were registered with the ministry and had resident physicians around to provide consultation and dispense Chinese medicine, however.

Still, treatment such as acupuncture, cupping and massages could not be given to patients as it entails long-term contact.

Nie’s Chinese medicine clinic was located at Block 46 of Bukit Ho Swee, but she did not apply to register with the authorities at the time and should not have been allowed to operate.

One day, a patient called with complaints of back pain and requested to see her, to which she agreed.

The patient then arrived at the clinic with a male companion at around 1pm on 29 April last year, to which Nie served them until 2pm.

Little did Nie know that the couple would later betray her.

After the consultation, the patient and her male companion reported to the media that the doctor had not treated her properly.

The real blow came when they also complained to the authorities that the clinic had been operating under illegal grounds during the circuit breaker. Yikes.

She Had Served Other Patients, Too

Nie denied having other patients visit her during the circuit breaker period when the authorities began their investigation.

However, it was later found that she had seen a total of six patients during that time on the 11th, 23rd, and 29th of April. Outpatient fees came up to about $1000 from these patients.

She did not only see the patient with back pain on the 29th but had also treated a mother and son whose session lasted for an hour and 25 minutes.

The 43-year-old mother had complained of poor sleep, while her 9-year-old son had contracted a cough. She made an appointment with the clinic on that day for both of them.

Nie had also required them to open their mouths for examination during the session.

The prosecution said that it was Nie’s choice to allow the patients to visit the clinic, and she also did not refer them to a registered clinic to see a doctor instead.

At such a sensitive period of time where the virus was spreading like wildfire, the exchanges were unsafe as they would not have known whether the patients or Nie had contracted COVID-19.

This made the risk of spreading the infection even higher.

Even though restrictions have been lifted quite significantly a year down the road, let’s not forget to be mindful of social interactions, even with doctors.

Featured Image: Google Maps