Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan’s (連戰) eldest daughter, Lien Hui-hsin (連惠心), yesterday denied being a stockholder in Geneherbs, a nutrition supplement company, after its weight-loss products were found to contain unauthorized drugs.
Taipei City’s Department of Health tested the ingredients of the pill — Wellslim Plus+ — and confirmed that it contains cetilistat, a lipase inhibitor that is designed to treat obesity. The drug is still undergoing clinical trials and the Ministry of Health and Welfare has not approved the drug for use in Taiwan.
Lien Hui-shin, who has been advertising the pills since they came out in 2008, denied connections with the company amid the scandal.
Her lawyer, Fang Wen-shuan (方文萱), said she did not take any position in the company, and had only agreed to promote the company without remuneration, rather than serving as a product spokesperson.
She agreed to promote the firm until the end of the year, and will end this voluntary role immediately if the pills are proven to contain unauthorized drugs, Fang said.
“Ms Lien will also seek compensation from the manufacturer and will not avoid her own responsibility for promoting the company,” the lawyer said.
Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Juan Chao-hsiung (阮昭雄), who had questioned the legality of the pills earlier this month, yesterday accused Lien Hui-hsin and the company of disregarding people’s health to seek profits. He urged the city government to hold them responsible.
“Cetilistat is not an authorized drug, and it is hard to detect using regular tests. The company and Lien Hui-hsin should take both legal and social responsibilities for damaging users’ health purposely,” he said.
Shen Mei-li (沈美俐), deputy director of the department’s food and drug division, said the company has violated the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法) by using cetilistat in its products.
Manufacturing or importing illegal drugs can result in a 10-year jail sentence or a fine of up to NT$10 million (US$340,000), while selling unauthorized drugs can result in a seven-year sentence or a fine of up to NT$5 million.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
RSS