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.
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union yesterday vowed to protest at the EVA Air Marathon on Sunday next week should EVA Airway Corp’s management continue to ignore the union’s petition to change rules on employees’ leave of absence system, after a flight attendant reportedly died after working on a long-haul flight while ill. The case has generated public discussion over whether taking personal or sick leave should affect a worker’s performance review. Several union members yesterday protested at the Legislative Yuan, holding white flowers and placards, while shouting: “Life is priceless; requesting leave is not a crime.” “The union is scheduled to meet with
‘UNITED FRONT’ RHETORIC: China’s TAO also plans to hold weekly, instead of biweekly, news conferences because it wants to control the cross-strait discourse, an expert said China’s plan to expand its single-entry visa-on-arrival service to Taiwanese would be of limited interest to Taiwanese and is a feeble attempt by Chinese administrators to demonstrate that they are doing something, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said the program aims to facilitate travel to China for Taiwanese compatriots, regardless of whether they are arriving via direct flights or are entering mainland China through Hong Kong, Macau or other countries, and they would be able to apply for a single-entry visa-on-arrival at all eligible entry points in China. The policy aims
The government yesterday donated US$200,000 to the Philippines to support post-earthquake relief and recovery efforts, following a powerful magnitude 6.9 quake that struck Cebu Province late last month, killing at least 72 people and injuring 559 others. The donation was presented earlier yesterday by Representative to the Philippines Wallace Chow (周民淦) to Cherbett Maralit, deputy resident representative of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, at Taiwan’s representative office in Manila. In his remarks, Chow expressed concern for those affected by the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck the central Philippines on the night of Sept. 30. "We sincerely hope for the earliest possible
RSS