Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) yesterday said he had nothing to be ashamed of in the handling of a suspected case of mad cow disease earlier this year, as there had yet to be a single confirmed case of the disease in Taiwan.
Lawmakers on the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee accused Yaung of failing to promptly make public information concerning the death of a 36-year-old Taiwanese man in May, ostensibly from mad cow disease.
Earlier this month, reports said the victim, who lived in the UK from 1978 until 1986, had died in May from what appeared to be mad cow disease.
In 2008, the victim began showing symptoms resembling those associated with Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD), including memory loss and hypersomnia. The case was reported as a suspected CJD case in March last year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said.
As the man’s family refused to provide tissue samples for testing or to give permission for an autopsy, pathologists were in no position to confirm the cause of death. However, based on his symptoms and his MRI and EEG records, a medical team determined it was “extremely likely” to be CJD.
The department came under heavy criticism after it was discovered that health authorities only began discussing the case after it was exposed by media.
Yaung and other health officials deny any wrongdoing over the matter.
The CDC said it had yet to confirm that the man had died of mad cow disease, as health authorities were unable to obtain agreement from the victim’s family for an autopsy. It said it would call a meeting of experts on the subject on Saturday to assess the situation.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chiech-ju (陳節如) said at the meeting that Yaung should step down over the incident, as well as his failure to achieve consensus on a proposed second-generational health plan.
“I will not step down over this [incident],” Yaung said, adding that those were separate issues.
He would only step down, if necessary, over the National Health Insurance issue, he said.
A trade agreement on US beef imports signed in October last year caused a stir among health professionals and consumer groups, who said at the time that Taiwan had no facilities to deal with a possible outbreak of mad cow disease.
The legislature in January barred US ground beef, beef offal and other beef parts such as skulls, eyes and intestines, from entering the market, claiming it was a preventive measure against the disease.
The US says it has been scientifically proven that its beef is safe for consumption.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS