Woman loses suit against ex-lover for giving her pills

A woman who sued her psychiatrist former lover for freely prescribing highly addictive pills to her has lost the case, even as the judge noted that "no true winner has emerged from this entire debacle".

On Tuesday (July 19), High Court judge Tan Siong Thye said Ms Serene Tiong failed to establish her claim that she suffered harm as a result of negligence by Dr Chan Herng Nieng.

Justice Tan said Ms Tiong's claim that Dr Chan had given her 280 tablets starting from May 2017 was not supported by contemporaneous text messages exchanged between them over a period of more than a year.

On the other hand, Dr Chan's version of events - that he gave Ms Tiong 14 tablets for short-term use - was more consistent with the evidence.

"Ms Tiong's claim that she suffered side effects due to consuming high dosages of Xanax and a lifelong Xanax dependency caused by Dr Chan's negligence is clearly unsupported by the evidence," said the judge.

The judge added that Ms Tiong also failed to prove her claim that Dr Chan had caused her psychiatric harm by misleading her into thinking that he was committed to having a long-term and exclusive sexual relationship with her.

Justice Tan said the current case was the latest episode in Ms Tiong's plot for revenge against the one who spurned her.

The negligence suit is the latest legal action triggered by Ms Tiong's discovery of WhatsApp messages between Dr Chan and his friend, surgeon Julian Ong, in which the two men boasted about their sexual conquests.

"Indeed, the adage that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned best describes the vitriolic actions of Ms Tiong," he said.

The judge added: "Although I have ruled against Ms Tiong, Dr Chan has borne, and will continue to bear, the shame of having his wanton and depraved behaviour aired in public for all to see."

Justice Tan noted that Dr Chan does not dispute that he owed Ms Tiong a duty of care by virtue of his medical expertise.

"Dr Chan's disgraceful use of women including Ms Tiong as his sex objects and the disturbing pride with which he gloated about his sexual conquests in the WhatsApp exchanges with Dr Ong suggest that he is a person with serious and grave character defects.

"Dr Chan's conduct in exploiting Ms Tiong and other women for his own perverse desires is debauched, degenerate and highly deserving of censure."

Ms Tiong was married when she started a sexual relationship with Dr Chan in January 2017.

She later filed for divorce, which was finalised in November 2017.

Her relationship with Dr Chan soured after the couple went on a vacation to Eastern Europe in April 2018.

While he was asleep, she unlocked his phone and took screenshots of his conversations with Dr Ong.

In the messages, Dr Chan said he enjoyed having sex with married women.

In June 2018, she lodged a complaint with the Singapore Medical Council against Dr Chan and Dr Ong.

She accused them of colluding and taking advantage of vulnerable women for sex.

Dr Ong successfully sued Ms Tiong for defamation, after she e-mailed the complaint to other doctors.

Ms Tiong also tried to sue the chief executive of HC Surgical Specialists, Dr Heah Sieu Min, for acquiring a 19 per cent stake in Dr Ong's firm.

This was dismissed by the Court of Appeal, which said her case was "wholly unmeritorious" and that she was clearly on a "quest for revenge".

Dr Chan has been handed a five-month suspension and his appeal is scheduled to be heard on Aug 3.