Quality aesthetic medicine is out of the question if safety is not up to par, Taiwan Women’s Link (TWL) and Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) said yesterday as they accused the Department of Health (DOH) of “putting the cart before the horse” by allegedly neglecting patients’ safety.
Four serious cases of medical malpractice in aesthetic medicine, one of which was fatal, occurred this year. These accidents can be attributed to a medical environment that is not properly monitored by authorities, in which misleading and false advertising, concealment of medical information and medical practices where safety is not guaranteed are allowed, the group told a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
“The health authority, instead of strengthening law enforcement to ensure medical safety, has been promoting quality certification of aesthetic medicine, not to mention that the certification that the public believes is fully authorized by the government is actually sponsored by the Taiwan Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation [TJCHA], a non-governmental organization,” TWL chairwoman Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) said.
“Now there are other medical groups campaigning to boycott the existing certification and establish their own,” Huang said, asking whether the safety and quality of aesthetic medicine can really be certified if a unified and government-backed set of regulations is lacking.
Not only is a public certification mechanism absent, the health authority is also incompetent in reining in false advertising about the effects of medically unproven treatments, and the inappropriate use of medical equipment and products, Lin said.
Also, “medical information and diagnoses are provided by non-medical staff who act as consultants, without informing patients about the potential risks and side effects [of procedures],” Huang said. “Autologous fat grafting [in breast augmentation] is accompanied by high risks of infection and failure, for instance, and platelet rich plasma skin regeneration therapy lacks sound medical proof of its effectiveness.”
Bureau of Medical Affairs Director Hsu Ming-neng (許銘能), who was present at the press conference, promised to tighten the government’s grip on misleading advertisements and unqualified consultants, saying that cases of medical fraud are subject to prison sentences.
Although the certification is not commissioned or financially sponsored by the government, Hsu said the TJCHA is a Department of Health-invested policy implementing unit.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS