Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) yesterday confirmed an incident in Changhua in which tainted reagents for pulmonary tuberculosis led to the misdiagnosis of eight patients between Feb. 27 and March 9.
Chou said the victims would be compensated.
“We will compensate them and take responsibility for the incident,” Chou told a press conference at CDC yesterday. “Investigations have shown that this was a result of human error.”
He encouraged the victims to file compensation requests with the CDC as soon as possible.
Chou’s comments came after news broke on Monday that tainted pulmonary tuberculosis reagents used for testing at Changhua Hospital led to eight people being misdiagnosed as having tuberculosis.
The eight were immediately quarantined.
Chou said that although the eight people had tested positive for pulmonary tuberculosis, physicians decided only to quarantine them and did not give them medication as the eight did not display any symptoms of the condition. X-rays also failed to reveal anything unusual.
Meanwhile, Chou said that he regretted the incident and disturbing the group’s daily routines.
“They also ran the risk of being laid off if their employers found they had been quarantined for pulmonary tuberculosis,” Chou said.
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