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June 25, 2008 JUNIOR DOC IN 2006 DRUG STING He becomes doctor, then dies suddenly After 8-month jail term, he was given chance to complete his housemanship; but he dies in hospital after short illness By Teh Joo Lin & Judith Tan A YOUNG doctor embroiled in a high-profile drug bust two years ago died on Friday, months after he looked to have turned his life around. Dr Adrian Yeo See Seng, 29, was thrust into the limelight in 2006 when he walked into a drug sting at a Bencoolen Street hotel and was caught with methamphetamine, or Ice. In the court case that followed, the then-medical houseman claimed that he was only experimenting with the drug. He was jailed for eight months. When he finished his sentence, he vowed to clean up his life, become a physician and volunteer overseas. 'He was a good man - one who had a hard life and who, despite all the setbacks, achieved his dream of becoming a practising doctor,' a fellow physician wrote on his blog. According to the blogger, Dr Yeo began vomiting blood at home earlier this month and was taken to the intensive care unit at a hospital. He had been nursing a nagging cough from a viral chest infection that worsened in the past six weeks. The blogger, who had befriended Dr Yeo when he was a houseman at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH), wrote that he may have been suffering from an 'intractable' form of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). The condition hinders the ability of blood to clot and can cause sufferers to bleed to death. He never regained consciousness. Lawyer Kertar Singh, who represented Dr Yeo in court, said his late client had harboured dreams of becoming a physician and being 'useful to society and mankind' following his release from prison. The two had met over dinner after he was freed. 'He told me that, given the opportunity, he would go abroad and do volunteer service to help those in dire need: people in disaster- and epidemic-hit places,' Mr Singh told The Straits Times. Dr Yeo was given that chance in March last year, when the Singapore Medical Council allowed him to continue his housemanship after he was released from prison. The council said that he had been an active volunteer since his release and cited glowing testimonials from his peers and doctors. Dr Yeo was a taxi driver's son who made good. He finished his housemanship at SingHealth hospitals at the end of last year. He worked at SGH between January and April this year before he was posted to the emergency department at the KK Women's and Children's Hospital last month. Other colleagues expressed their feelings about the late Dr Yeo in their personal blogs. His family members, who had stood by him throughout his ordeal, declined to speak to reporters. http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Sto...7.html?vgnmr=1 RIP