Doctors queried about surgery

The Star, 14th July 2008.

KUALA LUMPUR: Doctors who performed cosmetic surgery on Datin Fatimah Wan Chik who is now in a coma, have been summoned for questioning and stern action will be taken against them if they are found to have violated the Medical Act.

Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai said ministry officers had called the doctors to explain the complicated surgery of the still-hospitalised Fatimah, wife of former Labuan MP Datuk Suhaili Abdul Rahman.

Official launch: Liow (right) opening the Trois International Beauty Care Outlet at Ampang Waterfront in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Fatimah has been on life-support since Jan 18, after she had a tummy tuck, liposuction and surgery for her eye bags at a clinic in Klang on Jan 9.

“We expect to have the outcome of the investigation soon,” he told reporters after opening the Trois International Beauty Care Outlet here yesterday.

He said his ministry would table the Cosmetology Bill in Parliament by the end of this year so that beauty centres could be strictly regulated.

“Beauty care centres should exercise self-regulation and ensure that they use or sell only approved products. They must place the safety of consumers above all else,” he said, adding that his ministry had inspected 19 premises and seized 122 unauthorised products worth around RM56,000 for the first six months.

On another issue, Liow said he would personally look into a complaint by medical graduates that a local university did not hold a competency test as scheduled.

He said three local universities - Universiti Malaya, Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia - hold the test for graduates from unrecognised institutions.

The graduates are required to pass the competency test before they can register with the Malaysian Medical Council. The graduates can only take the test three times.

Recently, a Chinese newspaper reported that a group of graduates who had been assigned to sit for the test at Universiti Sains Malaysia, found that the university had cancelled the test and they were now forced to wait for another year.