Singaporean surgeon who tried to charge £8m for cancer treatment is removed from medical register

A leading Singaporean surgeon whose career ended after she grossly overcharged the royal family of Brunei has been allowed to remove her name voluntarily from the UK medical register.

Susan Lim Mey Lee was suspended for three years by the Singapore Medical Council for charging seriously inflated fees, but she did not notify the General Medical Council (GMC) about the case.

Lim, who qualified in Australia in 1979, was once Singapore’s most famous surgeon: an expert in robotic assisted surgery and stem cell entrepreneur who led the team that performed the city state’s first liver transplant. For six months in 2007 she managed the care of the Queen of Brunei’s sister, who had breast cancer.

She submitted invoices for S$24m (then £8m; €12m; US$16m). Challenged over the amount, she swiftly agreed to reduce it …