The Ministry of Health (MOH) is investigating a doctor at Wan Medical Clinic in Bedok for falsifying Covid-19 vaccination records, and is suspending four clinics linked to him.
It is also investigating the clinic for allegedly offering "remote" Antigen Rapid Test (ART) Pre-Event Testing, in partnership with Ms Iris Koh, the founder of anti-vaccine group Healing the Divide.
MOH said on Sunday (Jan 23) that it was looking into the clinic following anonymous feedback in December 2021.
The clinic was said to have allowed individuals to submit pre-recorded videos or photos showing them performing a self-administered pre-event ART. It would then upload a negative ART result for these individuals.
Under the Infectious Diseases (Antigen Rapid Test Providers) Regulations 2021, pre-event testing must be conducted in real time, in the presence of a registered medical practitioner or qualified self-administered test supervisor.
MOH also found that the clinic's doctor, 33-year-old Jipson Quah, had allegedly falsified vaccination records for individuals who had not actually received the vaccine.
Quah did this by submitting false information to the National Immunisation Registry to indicate that Covid-19 vaccines had been administered to individuals, when they had in fact not received the vaccination.
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By doing so, the individuals would then be considered as vaccinated under vaccination-differentiated safe management measures.
Quah had also allegedly submitted a false positive ART result to the Patient Risk Profile Portal, a national healthcare system used by doctors to upload ART results and other patient information.
This was done so that the unvaccinated patient could obtain recovered status and consequently be exempted from vaccination-differentiated safe management measures.
Ms Koh is alleged to have referred clients, believed to be members of her group, to the clinic.
MOH lodged a police report on Friday (Jan 21).
The police have since arrested and charged Quah and his 40-year-old clinic assistant Thomas Chua.
Ms Koh was charged on Sunday (Jan 23) with an offence of criminal conspiracy to cheat .
Unsupervised pre-event testing is against the law and offenders could face a jail term of three months, a fine of $5,000, or both.
To safeguard public health and ensure that clinic practices are in line with national Covid-19 policies and regulations, MOH said it has issued notices of suspension to four medical clinics licensed to Quah or where he was a clinic manager, pending the outcome of investigations.
The clinics are: Wan Medical Clinic in Bedok, Mayfair Medical Clinic in Woodlands, Mayfair Medical Clinic in Chong Pang, and Ong Clinic and Surgery in Yishun.
MOH has also revoked the ART approval for the clinics.
It added that it would be referring Quah to the Singapore Medical Council for further investigations.
This article was first published in The New Paper. Permission required for reproduction.
