Singapore court awards S$12,500 over defamatory TCM Google review
What's new: The judge found one review was fair comment, but a later post falsely tied acupuncture to arm weakness and was malicious.
A Singapore court ordered a patient to pay S$12,500 in damages after finding a Google review defamed a traditional Chinese medicine physician at Kin Teck Tong TCM Clinic in Plaza Singapura. District Judge Sim Mei Ling awarded Pheabe Chau Mei Sze S$10,000 in general damages and S$2,500 in aggravated damages over a second review by Cheryl Lim Ching Ling. The judge ruled that Lim's first post, which questioned whether the practitioner was qualified, counted as fair comment. But the later review crossed the line by stating as fact that the treatment caused her to lose arm strength. Lim had sought treatment in November 2024 and was later diagnosed at National University Hospital with neurapraxia of the upper extremity and cervical radiculopathy.