The Department of Health (DOH) decided yesterday to revoke the license of a nurse who mistakenly killed a baby by administering the wrong vaccine at a Taipei hospital on Friday.
"Although she committed the mistake inadvertently, we have decided to revoke her license," said acting head of the DOH Twu Shiing-jer (
Huang Ching-hui (
"The DOH will also fine hospital director Hsu Mu-chan (
Since the tragedy, Twu has visited the surviving injection victims and convened an emergency meeting with medical professionals discussing how to prevent similar mishaps.
"To prevent similar situations, it is very important for all hospitals to establish efficient incident reporting systems," said Twu.
Although Hsu insisted the incident was caused by Huang, Twu said the tragedy was not a mistake by just one person.
"It is the problem of how the hospital operates its vaccine control system," said Twu, adding it is also vital for the hospital to establish a system that will enable it to correct errors.
According to investigations, the mix-up occurred because Atracurium was placed in the same basket as hepatitis B vaccines.
Asked if the hospital should be shut down, Twu said it is the hospital's decision.
"It is a big local hospital. Shutting it down would cause a lot of inconvenience for local people," said Twu.
Twu also addressed the issue of nurse training following reports that Huang administered the wrong vaccines because she was unable to read the English notes on the bottles.
He said it was an important factor that was being closely looked at by the government
Meanwhile, Chin Tseng Jean-lie (
"If the DOH wants nurses to join the training sessions, nurses will need extra days off," Chin Tseng said.
According to Chin Tseng, nurses cannot afford to spend more time on training because of their already packed schedule.
Meanwhile, hospital sources reported yesterday the six babies who survived receiving the wrong injections are recovering.
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