At least 14 people were confirmed to have lead poisoning, health authorities said yesterday, in an investigation into heavy metal poisoning from medications prescribed by three traditional Chinese medicine establishments in Taichung.
Authorities are testing 191 samples of prescriptions by Lu Shih-ming’s (呂世明) Sheng Tang Chinese Medicine Clinic (盛唐中醫), Hung Chang-hung’s (洪彰宏) Jiu Fu Chinese Medicine Clinic (九福中醫) and Ou Kuo-liang’s (歐國樑) Shin Long Medicine Co (欣隆藥業).
The trio were detained and their businesses shut down on Friday following allegations that Lu and Hung had prescribed medicine containing cinnabar and lead tetroxide, although Taiwan has banned both since 2005.
The case came to light last week, when Taichung City Councilor Chang Yen-tung (張彥彤) said his family — including his father, former Taichung City Council speaker Chang Hung-nien (張宏年) — suffered from heavy metal poisoning after taking medicine prescribed by Sheng Tang clinic.
New Taipei City Councilor Liu Mei-fang (劉美芳) yesterday said her father, former Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council speaker Liu Ping-wei (劉炳偉), who died in April, had also sought treatment at Sheng Tang for oral cancer.
“I am certain my father was a victim in this case, as he was good friends with Chang Hung-nien, who introduced him to Sheng Tang, saying it has a reputation for treating cancer with traditional Chinese medicine. My father visited Taichung regularly over the past few years and took medication from that clinic,” she said.
Lu is an influential figure in the Chinese medicine industry in central Taiwan, and in 2018, formed a Sheng Tang Chinese medicine network to promote business collaborations and distribution with clinics in other cities and counties, Chang Yen-tung said, adding that there are likely more victims.
A small number of Taiwanese this year lost their citizenship rights after traveling in China and obtaining a one-time Chinese passport to cross the border into Russia, a source said today. The people signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of neighboring Russia with companies claiming they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, the source said on condition of anonymity. The travelers were actually issued one-time-use Chinese passports, they said. Taiwanese are prohibited from holding a Chinese passport or household registration. If found to have a Chinese ID, they may lose their resident status under Article 9-1
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
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