Taipei Chief Prosecutor Chen Ta-wei (陳大偉) yesterday indicted former Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital superintendent Wu Kang-wen (吳康文) and the hospital's Infectious Diseases Department head Lin Jung-ti (林榮第) for their negligence which resulted in the nation's first SARS outbreak inside a hospital.
Chen recommended an eight-year sentence for each.
"Wu, as a superintendent of the hospital, should have been brave enough to admit when there was a misdiagnosis and he should have taken necessary measures to make it up immediately," said Chen Hung-ta (陳宏達), the spokesman for the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office.
"Lin, as an infectious disease expert, should have been very sensitive and fully alert to the hazards of communicable diseases such as SARS. When there is a mistake, he should have immediately come up with solutions instead of trying to cover up his mistakes. Both men should take responsibility for the SARS outbreak inside the hospital."
Chen made his remarks at a press conference yesterday morning to announce prosecutors' decision to indict Wu and Lin. Both of them were charged under the Article 130 of the Criminal Code and were recommended to receive eight-year prison sentences.
The article stipulates, "A public official who neglects his duties thereby causing a catastrophe shall be punished with imprisonment for not less than three and not more than 10 years."
According to Chen Ta-wei's investigation, one of the initial SARS patients at the hospital, who was only identified by his surname Liu, arrived at the hospital for help on April 12 because he was developing a fever. However, since Liu also had kidney problems, Lin misdiagnosed Liu and decided to release him from the hospital on the same day.
Two days later, Liu came back to the hospital again because his fever was not improving. On April 18, Lin finally discovered that Liu was infected with SARS already after he reviewed Liu's lung X-rays.
However, the SARS outbreak had already begun inside the hospital due to Lin's negligence.
Lin did not report Liu's situation to Wu immediately. Instead, he tried to cover up his mistake.
After Wu realized what was going on, he did not report to his superiors immediately. In addition, it was Wu's job, as a superintendent, to organize a plan to quarantine and provide the necessary medical treatment for SARS patients. In the meantime, he should have reminded his staff to be aware of all kinds of potential infections when they were taking care of SARS-related cases. But he failed to take any of these measures once he realized that SARS might have been spread inside the hospital.
Regarding prosecutors' charges, Wu yesterday said that he had done everything he was supposed to do as a doctor. He also said he had no further comments and would wait for the court's decision.
As of press time yesterday, Lin could not be reached because he kept his cellular phone off. Taipei City Bureau of Health Director Chang Heng (張
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