Hong Kong doctor spared jail for fraudulently obtaining cough syrup, ADHD drugs

Lee Chi-leung handed 160 hours of community service and ordered to pay Hospital Authority HK$20,000 for two counts of misconduct in public office

A former consultant doctor at a Hong Kong public hospital has been spared jail for prescribing excessive medication to his patients and misappropriating the drugs for personal use.

The District Court on Thursday sentenced Lee Chi-leung, an ear, nose and throat specialist, to 160 hours of community service and ordered him to compensate the Hospital Authority HK$20,000 (US$2,550) for two counts of misconduct in public office.

Lee, 51, was found guilty in March of dishonestly acquiring more than 1,000 bottles of cough syrup and over 400 tablets of psychiatric medication for treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), while he was serving as an associate consultant at Queen Elizabeth Hospital between March 2015 and September 2020.

An investigation by the Independent Commission Against Corruption revealed that Lee had used the names of six family members and two domestic helpers to book fake medical appointments. This allowed him to falsely issue prescriptions under their names and misappropriate the medication.

The defendant also deliberately issued excessive amounts of cough syrup to two other patients and asked them to return the surplus for his own use.

Judge Josiah Lam Wai-kuen said Lee misappropriated hospital resources to satisfy his personal needs, adding that the incorrect prescription records could have impaired doctors’ ability to issue the right amount of drugs to the defendant’s former patients in the future.