China Medical University Hospital (CMUH) on Saturday said that a letter published in The Lancet this month by its doctors about Taiwan’s healthcare system being “on the brink of systemic collapse” contained factual errors.
The Taichung-based hospital in a statement said that it identified multiple mistakes in a letter authored by two of its doctors that was published in volume 405 of the renowned medical journal.
The hospital said that the doctors were “deeply apologetic” over the erroneous content and have formally requested that The Lancet publish a correction.
Photo: CNA
According to the hospital, the letter written by Li Jing-xing (李景行) and Hsu Shu-bai (許漱白) inaccurately stated that Taiwan’s COVID-19 hospitalization fatality rate was 58.2 percent.
The hospital said the figure was a misreading of a study by Chang Gung Memorial Hospital published this year in Infection and Drug Resistance, which found that 58.2 percent of critically ill COVID-19 patients requiring intubation were infected with the Omicron variant.
The letter erroneously reported that Taiwan had 62 nurses per 10,000 people in 2021, when the actual number was 78 nurses per 10,000 people, CMUH said.
It also said a supporting document meant to illustrate the healthcare system’s interconnectedness was mistakenly replaced with the wrong file.
The errors caused unnecessary confusion among Taiwan’s medical community, and the authors had compiled a detailed list of mistakes for correction, CMUH said.
The hospital emphasized that the government has prioritized addressing healthcare system strain in the post-pandemic era, with the Ministry of Health and Welfare holding multiple meetings to coordinate response strategies.
It added that the National Health Insurance system has long provided “exceptionally high standards of treatment” and remains a model for other countries.
On Saturday, Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) criticized the letter, saying that using incorrect statistics to attack Taiwan’s health system was “deeply unfair” to medical workers.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not