Famed Taiwanese folk singer Wen Hsia’s (文夏) caregiver yesterday told police in Taipei that he did not feed the 91-year-old drugs, after traces of marijuana and nimetazepam showed up in hospital tests.
Taipei police said a report was filed by Wen’s family on Sept. 16 saying that he had been hospitalized for a sickness and could not be woken up.
His family suspected that someone had “poisoned” him and provided the hospital test results, police said.
Photo: Pan Shao-tang, Taipei Times
Wen was admitted to Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei on Sept. 12 for pneumonia, sources said, adding that his family hired a 35-year-old caregiver surnamed Chen (陳), but at 10am the following day, family members found that Wen could not be woken up.
Suspecting that something was amiss, his family reported the situation to the hospital and replaced the caregiver, the sources said.
Urine test results on Sept. 16 showed that Wen tested positive for marijuana and nimetazepam, better known by the brand name Erimin, the sources said.
The family immediately reported the case to the police and filed a lawsuit against Chen for allegedly causing bodily harm to Wen, the sources said.
Taipei police yesterday summoned Chen for questioning.
Chen told the police that he smokes cigarettes, but does not use drugs and did not feed drugs to Wen, the sources said.
Chen said he was in an out of Wen’s hospital room multiple times on the day he was caring for him, because he went outside to smoke, the sources said.
The singer’s wife, Wen Hsiang (文香) told a news conference yesterday that she and some family members and friends visited him at the hospital on Sept. 13 to help him celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.
However, they could not wake him up, she said, adding that Chen was also sleeping.
Wen Hsia did not wake up for about five days, so she asked the hospital to administer a urine test, she said.
After he woke up, she did not tell him that traces of marijuana and Erimin had been detected in his body, she said, adding that she was afraid he would be worried.
Wen Hsia, who was discharged from the hospital earlier this month, is not aware that he slept for five days, she said.
He is physically weak, but his mind is clear, Wen Hsiang said, adding that she would leave it to the police to investigate the incident.
Additional reporting by Yang Hsin-han
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