Re-elected Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (
Hu, who looked quite healthy despite reports that he suffered a stroke on a trip to the US in August 2002, made the remarks when asked to comment on the penalties meted out to the 12 doctors by the Medical Doctor Disciplinary Committee under the Taichung City Government's health authorities on Wednesday.
One of the doctors -- Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Peter Lin (林進興), who played a leading role in disclosing what he claimed were Hu's medical records at a news conference in Taichung -- received the harshest punishment, with his licence to practice medicine suspended for one year.
Another was banned from practicing medicine for one month and ordered to attend 32 hours of classes on medical ethics. The others were given warnings and must attend mandatory classes on medical ethics totalling between eight and 24 hours.
Hu, of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), said he respects the rulings by the city government's health authorities, adding that he had not interfered in their decisions in any way.
Hu said that the outcome is not yet final, because health authorities at a higher level might still have a say on the issue. He said he will not rule out any possibility, and will wait for the final result before deciding whether it is necessary to sue the 12 doctors.
Meanwhile, the KMT legislative caucus urged Lin to withdraw from the legislature's Sanitation, Environment and Social Welfare Committee to avoid a conflict of interest.
Caucus whips noted that Lin has another case pending against him. In October the Bureau of National Health Insurance said that his hospital used forged records of overnight patients to get reimbursements from the bureau.
Asked to comment on the dispute over the ruling by Taichung's health authorities, a spokesman for the Department of Health (DOH) said Kaohsiung City's health authority will have to either enforce the ruling or hold a hearing of its own to let Lin defend himself.
The spokesman also said that Lin can appeal to the DOH's disciplinary committee within 20 days. If the DOH upholds the ruling, he will be banned from practicing medicine for one year.
Prosecutors in New Taipei City yesterday indicted 31 individuals affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for allegedly forging thousands of signatures in recall campaigns targeting three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The indictments stem from investigations launched earlier this year after DPP lawmakers Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) filed criminal complaints accusing campaign organizers of submitting false signatures in recall petitions against them. According to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, a total of 2,566 forged recall proposal forms in the initial proposer petition were found during the probe. Among those
ECHOVIRUS 11: The rate of enterovirus infections in northern Taiwan increased last week, with a four-year-old girl developing acute flaccid paralysis, the CDC said Two imported cases of chikungunya fever were reported last week, raising the total this year to 13 cases — the most for the same period in 18 years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The two cases were a Taiwanese and a foreign national who both arrived from Indonesia, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The 13 cases reported this year are the most for the same period since chikungunya was added to the list of notifiable communicable diseases in October 2007, she said, adding that all the cases this year were imported, including 11 from
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
RSS