The Ministry of Health and Welfare has to pay NT$2.09 million (US$68,635) in vaccine injury compensation after a young man died of alleged side effects from a flu vaccination, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled on Friday.
In November 2009, the then-16-year-old boy, surnamed Chen (陳), had received a novel influenza A (H1N1) vaccination at the Chiayi County vocational high school where he studied.
After the vaccination, Chen’s face and eyes began swelling.
Even though the school reported the case to the county health bureau and his parents took him to several hospitals for treatment, the cause of his symptoms was not identified.
He took prescribed steroids and allergy medication for about two years and continued to suffer from headaches, before he in May 2012 suddenly lost consciousness in the student dormitory.
He was taken to Taipei Veterans’ General Hospital, where he was diagnosed with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), an autoimmune disease marked by intense inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.
His condition rapidly worsened during his stay at the hospital until he died from sepsis in August 2012.
Chen’s parents claimed vaccine injury compensation from the ministry, but their claim was rejected because its review committee thought the onset of ADEM should have occurred within about two weeks after the vaccination.
The parents filed a lawsuit against the ministry at the Taipei High Administrative Court, which they lost.
However, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that, since the possibility that Chen developed ADEM from the flu vaccine could not be ruled out, the ministry must award the parents NT$2.09 million in compensation.
Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said that medical experts on the vaccine injury compensation review committee had determined that the condition was not caused by the vaccine, but the centers would respect the court’s ruling.
The centers yesterday said in a statement that while it respects the ruling, it felt sorry that the medical experts’ professional judgement was not supported by the court.
It also urged people to get flu vaccinations to prevent infections that could create a gap in the nation’s overall disease prevention.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
RSS