Patient recovers after 117 days of ECMO treatment
　

BEATING THE ODDS: Hospitalized after nearly drowning in 2007, Hu was kept alive by ECMO therapy, which is usually reserved for short-term life support measures
　

By Angelica Oung
STAFF REPORTER
Thursday, Jan 31, 2008, Page 2
　

Doctors at a local hospital lauded the "miraculous" recovery of a man, who spent a record 117 days on ECMO therapy and will be leaving hospital in time to spend Lunar New Year with his family.

ECMO, or Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation, oxygenates blood and removes carbon dioxide from patients whose cardio-pulmonary systems have ceased to function normally.

While the use of ECMOs is relatively common, what made the case unusual was the fact that the patient was kept alive by the system -- usually reserved for short-term life-support measured in days -- for almost four months, doctors at National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) said.

After nearly drowning on July 22 last year, the 26-year-old man surnamed Hu (胡) suffered from pulmonary edema. His lungs almost completely ceased to function, the doctors said.

"You can see on the X-rays that both sides of his lungs had turned opaque, which means they were permeated with water," said Tsai Keh-sung (蔡克嵩), a vice superintendent at NTUH.

Hu's lung almost completely ceased to function at one point, making it necessary for him to be hooked up to two ECMO machines at the same time.

"The fact that he recovered is something of a miracle," said Lee Yung-chie (李元麒), a chief physician at the hospital's department of traumatology. "We considered him a candidate for a lung transplant, but there were no suitable donors."

Wang Chih-hsien (王植賢), one of the specialists who tended to Hu, said he estimated the hospital incurred costs of NT$2.5 million on Hu's care in the first month alone.

"The first month is the most expensive as he had to be hooked up to two ECMOs," he said.

The use of ECMOs is covered by the National Health Insurance (NHI), but hospital doctors said that reimbursement by the NHI have to be approved on a case-by-case basis.

"In around 11 percent of cases, reimbursement is denied," said Ko Wen-che (柯文哲), a NTUH specialist who pioneered the use of ECMO treatment in the country.

In such cases the hospital is required to absorb the cost rather than passing it on to the patients.

Although ECMO has been in use for 14 years, the treatment has come under the spotlight in recent years. Many patients' families now request ECMO treatment by name when their loved ones are in critical condition, while others have criticized hospitals for overusing the expensive treatment on unsuitable candidates.

"Deciding whether to treat a patient with ECMO is an agonizing choice," Ko said.

"It's even harder to decide when to turn the ECMO off," Ko said.

About 150 patients were put on ECMO therapy last year at NTUH, more than any other hospital in the world. Sixty survived, a success rate of just 40 percent.

"But without the ECMO, every one of those 60 people would be dead," Ko said.

Hsieh calls for flexibility in Lunar New Year flights
　

CHARTER PLANES: The DPP presidential hopeful called on both sides to make convenience a priority and help Taiwanese businesspeople get home for the holiday
　

By Shih Hsiu-chuan
STAFF REPORTER
Thursday, Jan 31, 2008, Page 2

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday called for more flexibility in organizing charter flights for the Lunar New Year holidays to better serve Taiwanese businesspeople stranded in China because of heavy snow.

Hsieh made the remarks during a visit to Hung Chi-chang (洪奇昌), chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation, a semi-official institution that handles technical and business matters with its Chinese counterpart.

Hsieh called on Taipei and Beijing to take into account whether the charter flight plan was convenient for Taiwanese businesspeople and consider extending the duration of the service and changing or adding more airports to the service.

The Mainland Affairs Council has said that this year's Lunar New Year charter flights will be implemented based on the 2006 negotiations, under which a total of 96 flights will fly between Taipei and Kaohsiung and the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xiamen.

The service first took place in 2003 to facilitate travel during the holiday period.

"Taiwan initially suggested that four more airports in China be included this year, but China agreed only to the four cities, citing the [original] agreement," Hung said.

Hung said the heavy snow that had stranded tens of thousands of travelers in China might be a chance for the both sides of the Strait to "make a breakthrough."

If Beijing would like to follow the "Macau Model," it might be possible to make last-minute adjustments to the airports used for the service, Hung said.

The model refers to the practice where both sides authorize representatives with government power to negotiate on issues under names acceptable to both sides.

"Despite tensions between the two sides of the Strait, humanitarian concerns should not be left behind. China should adopt a flexible way to deal with the problem if it is sincere in helping Taiwanese businesspeople avoid inconvenience," Hsieh said.

US state adopts three resolutions in support of Taiwan
　

By Nadia Tsao
STAFF REPORTER IN WASHINGTON, WITH CNA
Thursday, Jan 31, 2008, Page 3

The Indiana State Senate on Monday unanimously adopted resolutions in support of Taiwan's bid to join the UN, the WHO and to sign a free trade agreement with the US.

The Indiana Senate resolutions stated that the UN bid should be supported as Taiwan is economically stable, has a mature democracy and a sound human rights record, and is eager to cooperate with the international community. Furthermore, Taiwan's entry into the WHO should likewise be supported, as it has actively participated and contributed in various technological exchanges within the organization, the resolutions said.

The senate also said that Taiwan and the US shared democratic principles and important economic partnerships. Thus the signing of a free trade agreement would boost both nations, and solidify US interests in Asia.

Accompanied by Thomas Cheng (鄭天授), head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago, and Taiwanese, Taiwan's representative in the US Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) visited the Indiana Senate.

OVATION

After the resolutions were passed, Wu was introduced to the assembly by Democrat leader Richard Young, and received a standing ovation.

Wu said that visits often reveal the friendship and support which Americans feel for Taiwanese.

Later on Monday evening, Wu delivered a speech on relations between Taiwan and the US.

The event was held at Marian College in Indianapolis, the state capital, with Wu speaking at the invitation of an academic circle of Indiana and Taiwanese compatriots in the US.

The event was co-sponsored by Marian College, the Indiana Council on World Affairs, the Taiwanese American Association of Indianapolis and the Indiana Chapter of Formosan Association for Public Affairs.

Wu analyzed the relationship between the two nations from various perspectives, including national defense, trade and the economy, and the development of democracy in his speech entitled "Taiwan and the US -- Partners in Security, Prosperity and Democracy."

PARTNERS

Wu said that the two sides supported each other in maintaining world and regional peace, that Taiwan has always supported US anti-terrorist measures and that the US provides weapons to Taiwan as a shield against China's military aggression to help maintain regional peace in Asia.

As for trade relations and the development of democracy, Wu said Taiwan had developed a close relationship with the US and that its development of democracy since 1980 had to be accredited to assistance from the US and support from Taiwanese in the US.

In response to questions on cross-strait relations, Wu said Taiwanese businesspeople had made considerable investments in China. He also said that the majority of Taiwanese hope to maintain the "status quo."

Wu said that as China had grown more economically powerful, several countries previously allied with Taiwan had switched their ties to China in exchange for financial aid. He said Taiwan mainly provides agricultural and technical assistance, rather than large sums of financial aid, to its allies.

Inflation makes its way to China
　

By Zhang Jun 張軍
Thursday, Jan 31, 2008, Page 8

`In the face of growing inflation, output is set to suffer.'

MACROECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN any country are like running water. How large and fast is the flow? Where does it originate and where does it go?

The "main stream" of China's economy is the vast flow of inward investment. China's economy is prone to rapid growth, with buoyant investment demand sustaining powerful short-term inflationary pressures. As a result, credit controls on investment projects and a close watch on the money supply have been used to promote macroeconomic stability since China began its market reforms.

But in 2003, following five years of deflation, China's economy entered a new phase. Overcapacity vanished, constraints on consumption were lifted, and a dramatic increase in household demand followed.

Since then, heavy industries -- steel, automobiles, machinery, building materials, energy, and raw materials -- have experienced an unprecedented investment boom, reflecting demand for urban construction, housing, transport, infrastructure, and equipment renewal. Not surprisingly, the economy began to overheat.

Productivity and profitability in manufacturing and heavy industries picked up, boosting China's national savings dramatically. Indeed, the huge increase in China's trade surplus in recent years is a consequence not of the renminbi's exchange rate, as many believe, but of the domestic savings' increase.

Yet, from 2005 to early last year, macroeconomic policy was focused on reining in the surplus. Most importantly, the renminbi was allowed to appreciate, and the export tax rebate was virtually eliminated.

Early last year, because inflation was not really visible, the government did not regard it as a major problem. But when price increases accelerated in the second half of the year, the authorities began to worry.

The central bank (PBOC) initially attributed it to excess liquidity, and so began to use monetary policy tools, raising interest rates five times since late last year. As a result, the interest rate for 12-month fixed deposits has reached 3.9 percent. Moreover, the PBOC has issued Central Bank Notes six times, reinforcing its anti-inflationary effort.

Nevertheless, by the end of October, M2 money supply had increased by 18.4 percent -- growing by 1.3 percent faster year on year, and exceeding the 16 percent target. By the start of this year, it was clear that controlling inflation and cooling an overheating economy had become the government's main economic target.

Indeed, the government's key economic committee, the Central Work Committee, has concluded that after years of "high growth and low inflation," China is on a route to "high growth with high inflation." This invariably means that fiscal and monetary stability will become a priority while controlling the trade surplus has become a lower one.

The problem is that, until now, the major cause of inflation has been rapidly rising manufacturing costs, and there is no sign of a slowdown in energy and raw material prices. Moreover, a new labor law and income policies will further increase workforce costs. And, due to rising consumer prices, the nominal interest rate will continue to rise. As a result, with investment demand remaining robust, inflation could spread.

In the face of growing inflation, output is set to suffer. In order to curb investment demand, tighter credit rationing and monetary policy are inevitable this year, while investment projects and land use will be subject to more rigorous control. Likewise, increasing pressure from growing labor costs will force enterprises to lower their profit expectations and cut costs, negatively affecting output growth and employment in the short run.

It will be difficult to ease these inflationary pressures this year. International commodity prices will continue to rise, increases in domestic labor costs and prices of non-tradable goods cannot easily be stemmed, the international economic situation will encourage further capital inflows, and asset inflation will persist. All these factors will push inflation above the level last year.

With export performance also set to slow, owing to the economic downturn in the US, employment and growth could be weakened further, which implies mounting pressure on China's government -- and thus on the fiscal deficit, creating another source of inflationary pressure. And, once an inflationary trend emerges and economic growth slows, the steady-as-you-go pattern to China's decade-long boom will be over.

Zhang Jun is director of the China Center for Economic Studies, Fudan University, Shanghai.