The Control Yuan has censured the Miaoli County Government and the Ministry of Health and Welfare for regulatory failures, following the death last year of an autistic man who had allegedly been beaten while a resident at a care facility for people with disabilities, it said on Thursday.
The agency on Wednesday issued corrective measures on the county government and the ministry, which it said was at fault for the death of a 28-year-old man surnamed Lee (李), who in July last year died while staying at De Fang House of Correction in Miaoli’s Zaociao Township (造橋) after he was allegedly beaten by a staff member.
An investigation revealed that Lee died from intracranial bleeding and rhabdomyolysis — the breakdown of muscle tissue causing muscle fiber to enter the bloodstream.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The nursing facility has been indefinitely suspended and three of its employees are being criminally prosecuted for charges including false imprisonment leading to death, Control Yuan member Wang Yu-ling (王幼玲) said.
They could face a sentence of seven years to life in prison if found guilty, she said, adding that she, as a mother of an autistic son, felt “deep and personal sympathy” for the victim.
The Control Yuan’s investigation revealed that the facility had been plagued by numerous problems including insufficient staff, substandard training, overuse of restraints, and allegations that patients were beaten and held in solitary confinement, she said.
The Miaoli County Government was aware of the conditions at the nursing home, but took no action beyond making formal gestures, while the ministry — which gave the home low marks in evaluations in 2014 and 2015 — also did nothing, she said.
That De Fang chronically received bad ratings and operated without consequence suggests “severe dysfunction in the country’s regulatory mechanisms for institutions serving people with disabilities,” she said.
The country did not provide long-term care solutions for adults with severe autism after the government ended the institutionalization of people with mental illnesses to comply with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Control Yuan member Wang Mei-yu (王美玉) said.
Although the government intended to provide community-based care for people with low-functioning autism, the measures did not meet their needs, she said.
The government has to step up its efforts, because [these patients’] parents are growing old, and something must soon be done for them to have a life and a place to live,” she said.
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