"you said that sex was the best drug"
A doctor is currently on trial for 66 sexually-related charges against more than 50 female patients.
Krishna Singh, aged 72, of North Lanarkshire, is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
The offences are said to have occurred between 1983 and 2018, mainly at medical practices in North Lanarkshire.
He denies the offences.
Prosecutor Angela Gray asked Singh about allegedly telling a teenage patient that sex was the “best drug”.
She asked Singh if he initially told the 17 or 18-year-old patient that her “breasts were getting bigger, you are more mature”.
Singh replied: “No.”
Miss Gray asked: “She said that you said that sex was the best drug, did you say that?”
Singh again replied: “No.”
Miss Gray: “Would you accept it would be an inappropriate thing for a doctor to say?”
Singh stated: “Yes.”
Singh denied groping a now 54-year-old woman after making a comment about having “big boobies”.
The doctor further refuted a suggestion that he asked another 54-year-old if her boyfriend “gave you sexy”.
Singh said: “I asked about sex life and asked about if she had a boyfriend or married – those questions.”
He claimed he would use “local language” to ask patients about their sexual activity before prescribing the contraceptive pill.
Singh told Miss Gray that he would record breast and internal examinations when they took place.
The depute then asked: “We heard evidence from a number of women you examined which we did not see in the medical records – do you have an explanation?”
Singh said: “If I did a breast examination, I would have recorded it but if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have recorded it.”
Miss Gray: “If the women say that examinations took place, could they be wrong?”
Singh replied: “They are wrong.”
The doctor claimed he has “regret” about the way he acted.
Janice Green, defending, asked: “Taking consent from a patient and you are going to examine for one reason or another, what does consent mean to you?”
Singh said: “When I joined the practice, I did not get consent for doing the examination but when I look back I realise on reflection that I should have taken more consent and been more careful.”
He added that he did not document whether or not he took consent from a patient.
Miss Green asked: “You assumed that there was consent when a patient came to you for an examination?”
Singh said: “Yes.”
He admitted not having a chaperone in his surgery other than on a number of occasions.
He further claimed to have lifted up patients’ dresses when he was “in a rush” or was “under pressure” before an examination.
Singh added:
“I realise this might have made the patient uncomfortable and I have regret.”
He said he would touch the back of some patients using scales to “ensure a correct reading”.
Singh said: “When I look back it, it made the patient uncomfortable and I feel sorry now and I shouldn’t have done this.”
He said his wife became Coatbridge surgery’s practice manager in 2009.
Singh said one of her roles was to handle patient complaints.
He said these included: “Not getting appointments, not seeing the patients, not getting any house visits.”
The trial continues.
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