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Ministry lied about
A-bian, DPP says
HOSPITAL DRAMA: The medical center the
ex-president was taken to for treatment ran against his family’s wishes and was
‘politically affiliated’ with the KMT, his family said
By Rich Chang / Staff reporter
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday said that the Ministry of
Justice had lied about why it had selected the Taipei Veterans General Hospital
(TVGH) as the medical center where former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has
received medical check-ups and treatment.
The lawmakers asked Minister of Justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫) to provide a report
on the matter in a legislative meeting set for tomorrow.
DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) told a press conference yesterday that the
remarks made by Taipei Prison on the former president’s transfer to the TVGH are
at odds with remarks made by other hospitals.
Chen Shui-bian’s family had said it would prefer that the former president be
taken to Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei or to a hospital in southern Taiwan,
but the prison decided to transfer Chen Shui-bian to the TVGH, despite the
objections of the Chen family, who say the hospital is “politically affiliated”
with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Taipei Prison on Friday said that Mackay Memorial Hospital declined to admit
Chen Shui-bian because it has insufficient experience in functional magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI) testing, while Far Eastern Memorial Hospital and Chang
Gung Memorial Hospital in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Linkou District (林口) said they
had no equipment to monitor cerebral microemboli.
The National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) said no to Chen Shui-bian because
it has problems with security maintenance, the Taipei Prison added.
However, Chen Ting-fei said yesterday that Mackay said it had not been
approached by the judicial authorities about functional MRI and Far Eastern said
it had not received any judicial authority enquiry about Chen Shui-bian’s
transfer to the hospital, Chen Ting-fei added.
Chang Gung Memorial Hospital has equipment to monitoring microemboli in cerebral
circulation, according to Chen Ting-fei, adding that the NTUH, on the other
hand, had declined to comment on issues surrounding the former president’s
transfer.
The ministry and the prison were both lying to the public about the matter of
Chen Shui-bians’ transfer, Chen Ting-fei charges, adding that as a result of
which DPP lawmakers have asked Tseng to report the matter to the legislative
Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee meeting which is scheduled to
take place tomorrow.
In response, Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Shou-huang (陳守煌) said transferring
Chen Shui-bian to the TVGH was a medical decision, adding that the hospital has
advanced equipment and services which are adequate for his treatment.
The former president, who is serving a 17-and-a-half-year sentence for
corruption, was admitted to Taoyuan General Hospital on Sept. 12 after
complaining of having difficulty urinating.
An MRI conducted by Taoyuan hospital showed that he had had a minor stroke.
Based on a recommendation by the hospital, the Ministry of Justice decided to
transfer Chen Shui-bian to a different medical center for further examination.
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