SINGAPORE – The doctor whose partner is at the centre of the HIV Registry leak appeared in the High Court on Monday (March 11) for an appeal hearing.

Ler Teck Siang, 36, is appealing against his conviction and two-year jail sentence for abetment of cheating and for giving a false statement to a public servant. 

Ler had given a sample of his blood in place of that of his HIV-positive boyfriend, Mikhy Farrera-Brochez, so that the American could pass medical tests to work in Singapore.

Farrera-Brochez, 33, recently leaked the details of 14,200 people with HIV, and another 2,400 of their contacts, and was ordered by a United States court last week to immediately hand over all copies he owned of any confidential data from the Singapore Government.

He was also formally charged by a grand jury in Kentucky on Thursday with offences related to stolen identification documents from Singapore, bringing him one step closer to a trial.

Ler, who was convicted last September, faces another charge of mishandling information under the Official Secrets Act while he was head of the National Public Health Unit. 

He is still on the Register of Medical Practitioners but he no longer has a certificate to practise medicine in Singapore. He also does not have access to the confidential information of patients in the National Electronic Health Records, which includes all public-sector patients.

Historically, the Singapore Medical Council does not take action against a doctor until any legal appeal has been disposed of.

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