[Above: File photo of surgeon Martin Huang conducting a breast check for actress Cynthia Lee]

By Dawn Tay

WELL-KNOWN Singapore plastic surgeon Martin Huang has become the first doctor here to be taken to task by the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) for performing unproven stem-cell treatments on patients.

Dr Huang, 48, was fined $5,000 and censured after pleading guilty in an August inquiry to professional misconduct for offering to inject patients with sheep foetal cells in 'anti-ageing' treatments, and carrying it out.

Such therapy is generally not accepted in the medical profession, and should not be performed outside of a clinical trial approved by an ethics committee, the SMC said yesterday.

Dr Huang knew that the therapy was not accepted, and as a senior doctor who has been practising for more than 10 years, must have known that he needed approval to conduct a trial, it noted.

It convened an inquiry into the matter after a health-andbeauty magazine published an article in which Dr Huang said he was performing the therapy.

Dr Huang, who runs The Cosmetic Surgery Clinic in Paragon shopping centre, said yesterday that he had injected himself with sheep cells once, and did it for three patients in 2006 and 2007.

None had suffered any harm or complications, he said.

'Nevertheless, I understand the SMC's concern about this treatment, respect its decision, and am happy to abide by its wishes,' he said.

Yesterday, the SMC declined to comment on whether disciplinary action would be taken against Dr Y.M. Wong, whom my paper had reported on in July. The medical director of Clinique Suisse in Paragon said that he had flown his patients to Switzerland, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur for 'anti-ageing' therapy using sheep stem cells for the last 10 years.

The SMC said that it can investigate a case only when it receives a complaint, and would not comment on disciplinary proceedings until they are over.

On using sheep stem cells in 'anti-ageing' treatments, Genome Institute of Singapore executive director Edison Liu said: 'Such treatments have been touted for 30 years, but there has yet to be scientific data that the injection of sheep cells has any benefit.'

After being injected with animal cells, the body could reject the foreign cells, become infected with viruses or develop arthritis and kidney problems, he said.

Online, numerous stem-cell companies in countries such as Switzerland and China tout treatments for ailments such as spinal injuries, autism and Parkinson's disease ' which doctors here warn are far from proven.

However, human stem-cell therapy has been proven successful in treating diseases such as some cancers of the blood. Clinical trials are underway to test if it is effective for other conditions, such as heart disease.

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