A urologist accused of cutting the wrong arteries during a kidney operation has been barred from almost all surgery for 18 months.
Fong Yan Kit, 54, faces a charge of causing the death of his patient by a negligent act. He has not been convicted. The criminal case is still before the courts.
The Singapore Medical Council’s Interim Orders Committee imposed the restrictions from 17 June 2026, according to a decision reported by CNA and Mothership on 27 August.
A Routine Kidney Operation
Tan Bee Hwa, 63, went to Raffles Hospital’s accident and emergency department in the early hours of 28 April 2022 with pain, blood in her urine and vomiting.
A scan showed a 7.5cm tumour on her left kidney. Fong advised surgery.
The keyhole operation took place on 29 April. Two of the vessels he believed were branches of the left renal artery were actually the superior mesenteric artery and the coeliac trunk, which supply blood to the stomach and bowels.
He allegedly cut and tied those arteries, then finished the surgery without checking that the correct vessels had been severed.
The Cuts Were Found Days Later
Tan’s abdominal pain worsened after the operation. On 1 May she had trouble breathing and low blood pressure, then went into cardiac arrest twice.
A vascular interventional radiologist reviewed CT scans that morning. An emergency operation to rejoin the cut arteries began that afternoon, but the damaged organs could not be saved.
She died on 2 May 2022. A coroner’s inquiry later found that her death resulted from the procedure and could have been avoided.
The coroner described the order in which Fong ligated and cut the vessels as unfathomable. The Singapore Medical Council said he had at least three chances to spot the mistake before the first surgery ended, and missed all of them.
Why The 18-Month Ban
SMC lawyers told the committee the error raised serious doubts about Fong’s skill as a urologist. The arteries were in their usual positions. The council said he likely had a fundamental misunderstanding of human anatomy, and that this may not have been a one-off slip.
Three years later, at the coroner’s inquiry, he still wrongly identified the location of the aorta, then conceded the mistake.
Fong has been a registered urology specialist since 2005 and joined Raffles Hospital in 2006. His lawyers said he had performed or assisted in at least 200 laparoscopic operations there, including more than 60 kidney removals, with no previous case of cutting the superior mesenteric artery.
He said he voluntarily stopped major abdominal surgery from 20 June 2022. After he was charged in March 2026, the hospital placed him on indefinite leave. He has since done locum work at private GP clinics. He told the committee he is the sole breadwinner for a homemaker wife and four children.
The committee still found restrictions necessary. For 18 months he must not offer or perform any surgery as a primary, secondary or assistant surgeon, except minor office procedures in a primary-care setting. He must tell SMC where he practises, and tell any medical employer about the conditions.
If convicted of causing death by a negligent act, he can be jailed for up to two years, fined, or both.
A kidney operation is not supposed to cut off the blood supply to the rest of the abdomen. The ban is the medical council’s way of saying the next patient should not have to find that out the hard way.
