8-year-old boy develops myocarditis after second COVID shot

An eight-year old boy was diagnosed with myocarditis two days after receiving the second dose of a COVID vaccine, and his condition may have been triggered by the vaccine, Taiwan’s Public Service Television (PTS) news reported yesterday, June 24. The second-grader in Kaohsiung City was administered the second dose of the Moderna shot on June 17, and developed a fever and chest pain on June 19. Doctors at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital diagnosed the boy as suffering from myocarditis and

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Medical drug-related death and injury compensation payments rise for first time in 20 years

Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration has increased the value of payments for cases of injury or death related to the use of legally prescribed pharmaceuticals for the first time in 20 years, according to reports in Liberty Times and ET Today. The FDA as of September 1, 2021 has amended the “Medicine Harm Relief Payment Standard” to increase both minimum and maximum relief payout for deaths and serious disorders caused by the use of legal drugs in accordance with a

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Good News: Taiwan’s post-vaccination blood clot rate lower than Europe and America

Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) today announced that 13 notifications of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) had been reported as of July 21, translating to 4.2 cases per million doses. Speaking at a daily press briefing, CECC spokesperson Chuang Jen-hsiang pointed out that the rate of TTS reported in Taiwan so far is lower than that in Europe and America where incidents of TTS following vaccination are around 10 to 20 cases per million doses. The 13 domestic cases

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13 doctors convicted, sentenced for taking pharmaceutical company bribes

Thirteen military medical officers from an armed forces hospital in Kaohsiung City were handed sentences ranging from 1 year, 9 months to 7 years, 8 months for taking bribes from pharmaceutical company representatives in return for prescribing specific drugs to patients, according to reports today, July 6. The Kaohsiung District Court found that pharmaceutical companies provided bribes ranging from NT$170,000 to nearly NT$1 million to doctors and hospital administrators of the Gangshan Armed Forces Hospital in return for prescribing their

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