Shrink suspended for sending lewd texts, name removed from registry

Summary

• On Nov 19, the MMC disciplinary board suspended psychiatrist Dr Gurdeep Singh for one year for sending lewd text messages to a patient, who sought therapy after she was raped.

• His name was removed from the registry this week, but as of last week, he was still practising and registered.

• He claims his suspension is not in force because he only received the suspension notice in the second week of December, and has 30 days from then to appeal.

The Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) has removed a Petaling Jaya-based psychiatrist from its registry and suspended him for a year after he was found guilty of sending his patient lewd text messages.

However, as of last week, Dr Gurdeep Singh Narain Singh was still practising and said he was filing an appeal against the suspension.

He was also still listed as a registered practitioner by the MMC as of Dec 20.

According to an MMC disciplinary board judgment dated Nov 19, the psychiatrist had sent lewd messages to the patient who was in a “vulnerable emotional and mental state”.

The patient had sought therapy from him for post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety, which she said developed after she was raped.

‘Not suspended yet’

Although a month had passed since the verdict was issued, Gurdeep said the 30-day appeal period has not lapsed because he only received the notice of suspension in the second week of December, between the ninth and the 13th.

Contacted on Dec 20, he said he has yet to file the appeal but intends to do so.

“My judgment has not taken effect yet as I am in the process of appealing. So, I am not suspended yet,” said the psychiatrist, urging Malaysiakini not to report on the matter pending the appeal.

According to the Medical Act 1971, those suspended from the medical register have one month to file their appeal.

When contacted, the MMC’s Ethics and Legal Division confirmed the disciplinary board’s finding of “serious professional misconduct” against Gurdeep but said that the suspension takes place “from the date the punishment letter is received by the said practitioner”.

It declined to clarify when Gurdeep received the letter and said the suspension order “will only be formally endorsed against the practitioner’s name in the registry published on the MMC website after the expiry of the 30 days from the date of communication with the practitioner”.

The notice of suspension, sent to the complainant and sighted by Malaysiakini, was dated Nov 19.

Still accepting new patients

Malaysiakini’s checks on Dec 20 found Gurdeep was still offering psychiatric services at The Psych Clinic in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, under the name Dr GS Grewal.

Malaysiakini attempted to make an appointment with him on that day via the listed WhatsApp number and an appointment was offered for the following week.

When Malaysiakini emailed the clinic for a response, Gurdeep responded via telephone to explain that he was appealing the verdict.

He added that he was “slowing down” his practice and only seeing existing patients.

This is despite Malaysiakini being offered an appointment with him as a fresh patient.

“I am slowing down. I am not seeing any patients actually. I have no time. I am seeing the lawyers,” he said, in the phone call made using the clinic’s listed phone number.

One-year suspension ‘too lenient’

The complainant, who filed the complaint with the MMC in 2019, said she was “deeply disturbed” to learn he was still practising.

She said the one-year suspension was already “too lenient” and that the fact that he is still practising further endangers vulnerable patients.

Malaysiakini is withholding the name of the complainant, in accordance with ethical guidelines on media reporting on survivors of sexual crimes.

According to the MMC disciplinary board judgment, the psychiatrist sent lewd messages to the patient and tried to engage in a sexual relationship with her in June 2019, but she put a stop to it.

In one instance, he had sent a message urging her to masturbate and reach orgasm, after which he could provide her with Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing therapy, the judgment read.

When she told him he was “going too far”, the psychiatrist told his patient that she was “really, really overthinking” and that they “both cross(ed) some lines”.

He also testified that he was under the influence of alcohol and the complainant had “responded and actively participated” in his lewd overtures.

However, the disciplinary board noted that this is “irrelevant and does not excuse the respondent’s behaviour” because it is “improper” for medical professionals to engage in sexual or emotional relationships with their patients.

Acknowledged behaviour was inappropriate

The board had also found no credible evidence to support his defence, including the claim that he was under the influence of alcohol when he sent the inappropriate text messages.

It found that the psychiatrist’s actions contravened Section 2.2.4 of the MMC’s Code of Professional Conduct.

Section 2.2.4 provides that a practitioner must not enter into an emotional or sexual relationship, or any act which may be interpreted as sexual harassment with a patient which disrupts that patient’s family life or otherwise damages, or causes distress to, the patient or his or her family.

However, in deciding to suspend him for practice for a year instead of deregistering him, the board noted that he had acknowledged that his behaviour was inappropriate and expressed remorse for it.

“The respondent has been severely punished and has suffered severe losses as a result of the incident, including loss of work, income and reputation,” the board noted.

Gurdeep was terminated from his position at Thomson Hospital in 2019 after the patient complained.

In 2020, he was charged in court with outraging the patient’s modesty but was acquitted last year after the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie.

The High Court later dismissed the prosecution’s appeal.

He was not charged under the Sexual Harassment Act, which came into force in October 2022.

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