The alleged forced hospitalization by the Taipei City Government of a homeless man on Thursday drew criticism yesterday, with groups saying moves to increase monitoring of people with mental illness could be a breach of privacy rights and could discourage them from seeking treatment.
A man surnamed Ting (丁), nicknamed “Wobble-wobble Man” (搖搖哥) for his distinctive gait by students of National Chengchi University, where he is often seen, was shown being forced into an ambulance in video footage posted online on Thursday.
“Even if he has a mental illness, if there is no concern that he will harm himself or others, he should not be consigned to hospital,” Taiwan Association for Human Rights deputy chairman Weng Kuo-yan (翁國彥) said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“He was known to students for years and never sought to do anything that would harm anyone,” Weng said, adding that the association was seeking a judicial review to overturn the city’s decision, which he said breached the Mental Health Act (精神衛生法).
Any loosening of regulations governing forced hospitalization should be ruled out given the government’s abuse of its existing powers, Weng said.
Loosened regulations have been proposed following the beheading of a four-year-old girl in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) on Monday, with the city government claiming that suspect Wang Ching-yu (王景玉) has a mental illness.
Wang was reportedly escorted to the emergency room of Taipei City Hospital’s Songde Branch by police in 2014 after a fight with his parents, but chose to ignore hospital recommendations that he remain under observation.
“When there are not adequate resources to care for patients, big moves [to forcibly hospitalize patients] will just lead to the exhaustion of the entire system,” said Wu Yi-cheng (吳易澄), head of Mackay Memorial Hospital’s department of psychiatry and an executive committee member of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights.
The city government’s objective should be to increase the number of personnel available to help mentally ill people participate in society, Wu said, adding that violent lashing out on the part of a mentally ill person is often the result of suffering, exclusion and other “social violence.”
In response to the controversy concerning Ting, Taipei City Government spokesman Sidney Lin (林鶴明) said Thursday’s move was meant to help Ting, adding that the city stepped in at the request of security guards at the university.
The Taipei Department of Health said it hospitalized Ting out of concern over his deteriorating ability to take care of himself and his health, adding that it appeared Ting had not eaten for days.
The department said it received a report about Ting from residents in February, but had been unable to locate him, adding that he was on a list of people it routinely checks on.
It contacted the police to “reason with” Ting so he could be hospitalized, the department said, adding that Ting consented to being hospitalized at Songde hospital.
Police on the scene on Thursdasy might have caused misunderstanding among people who witnessed the incident, the department said.
At a hearing at the Taipei District Court later yesterday, Ting asked via a teleconference that he be discharged from the hospital.
While the hospital said it would respect Ting’s wishes, the court is to make a ruling today on whether Ting should be discharged.
Separately, groups expressed concern over reports that government agencies would seek to increase monitoring of mentally ill people.
Eva Teng (滕西華), secretary-general of the Taiwan Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation, said her organization had received numerous reports from hospitals and the Ministry of Health and Welfare that other government agencies were seeking to gain access to lists of people seeking medical treatment for mental illness, which would be a breach of privacy rights.
Teng said that by allowing Wang’s medical history to be published, the city government showed its disregard for privacy laws.
“Whether the suspect is even mentally impaired is still undetermined, but the city has already made up its mind,” she said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋) said allowing mental illness records to be shared among government agencies would cause people to be less willing to seek treatment.
“People will worry that next time there is a commotion, they will be suspected or receive ‘special attention’ from government agencies,” he said.
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