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S'porean doctor, 54, charged with causing death of woman by cutting wrong arteries during kidney surgery
The patient died three days after the surgery, due to inadequate blood supply to several organs.
March 12, 2026, 02:02 PM
A Raffles Hospital doctor involved in a botched kidney surgery was charged in court on Mar. 12 for causing the death of the 63-year-old patient.
The patient was undergoing surgery to remove a renal tumour from her kidney on Apr. 29, 2022.
Fong Yan Kit, a 54-year-old Singaporean, is accused of erroneously severing two major abdominal arteries and then concluding the surgery without checking that he had severed the correct vessels.
This negligent act obstructed the blood supply to the patient's intra-abdominal organs, which caused her death.
According to the coroner's inquiry in November 2025, the mistake was discovered after the patient continued to feel unwell post-surgery.
As several of her digestive organs showed signs of inadequate blood supply, surgeons decided she would not survive the procedure to reconnect the severed vessels.
Her condition continued to deteriorate, and she was pronounced dead three days after the surgery.
In Fong's initial medical reports, he did not mention his mistake in severing the wrong arteries.
A search by Mothership on the Singapore Medical Council's website on Mar. 12 showed that Fong remained a fully registered medical doctor, practising at Raffles Hospital.
On Mar. 12, Fong did not give an indication of how he would plead. He will next appear in court on Apr. 16.
Top images from Canva and Mothership
