National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) on Saturday said a nurse had accidentally used tap water instead of reverse osmosis purified water on dialysis patients in an intensive care unit, but that the death of one of the patients was not related to the incident.
The Taiwan Healthcare Reform Foundation yesterday said the hospital should have reported the case to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
The ministry said it has asked the local health department to look into the case.
A local media outlet on Saturday afternoon reported that a nurse at NTUH’s intensive care unit had accidentally connected a tube meant for reverse osmosis purified water to tap water, and one of the six patients in the unit had died.
NTUH issued a statement later the same day saying that it had conducted a review immediately after the incident, and changed procedures and improved its equipment to prevent similar accidents.
It had explained the situation and apologized to patients and their families, the hospital said.
There is no evidence to suggest that the patient’s death, which happened a few days after the accident, was related, it said, adding that a preliminary review showed that the cause of death was associated with the patient’s illness.
The foundation yesterday said that, since a 2011 case involving NTUH where organs from a donor infected with HIV were accidentally transplanted into five recipients, it has advocated for regulations that require healthcare facilities to report serious medical malpractice to governing agencies within 24 hours, and that investigations be conducted by an independent ad hoc team.
“These cases show that healthcare facilities are often passive and only unwillingly respond after they are exposed by the media or patients complain,” foundation deputy chief executive Chu Hsien-kuang (朱顯光) said yesterday.
“The investigation was conducted by NTUH, which might not clear the public’s doubts, because [the hospital] has been both the player and the referee,” he said, adding that facilities and the government should review how they respond to serious malpractice cases, because the public is unsatisfied.
Department of Medical Affairs Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said the department was not informed of the case, and he found out about it through the media.
“I have asked the Taipei Department of Health to follow regulations when investigating this case and have requested that NTUH submit a report in three days,” he said.
“If an investigation shows that a healthcare facility is to blame for a management error that results in a patient’s death, it could be fined between NT$100,000 and NT$500,000 according to Article 118 of the Medical Act (醫療法),” Shih said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
REWRITING HISTORY: China has been advocating a ‘correct’ interpretation of the victory over Japan that brings the CCP’s contributions to the forefront, an expert said An elderly Chinese war veteran’s shin still bears the mark of a bullet wound he sustained when fighting the Japanese as a teenager, a year before the end of World War II. Eighty years on, Li Jinshui’s scar remains as testimony to the bravery of Chinese troops in a conflict that killed millions of their people. However, the story behind China’s overthrow of the brutal Japanese occupation is deeply contested. Historians broadly agree that credit for victory lies primarily with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led Republic of China (ROC) Army. Its leader, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a
RSS