Politics

Ethics campaign for doctors urged after scandal

• Publication Date：04/15/2010
• Source： United Daily News

The Bureau of National Health Insurance intends to promote a self-discipline and ethics campaign among Taiwanese doctors in the wake of a recent medical scandal, sources said.

It was revealed April 13 that 10 hospitals and seven physicians from the Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital worked to defraud both insurance companies and the National Health Insurance by treating phony cancer patients.

“We believe that most medical doctors work hard to help patients regain their health. Only very few of them resort to illegal conduct for profitable gains,” said Cheng Shou-hsia, director-general of the Bureau of National Health Insurance under the Department of Health.

Cheng added that the campaign might enlist the help of respected elderly doctors. “While the medical circle is responsible for quality and safe medical services, we would like to have senior leaders to have a word with the younger practitioners,” he said.

Taipei Medical University President Chiu Wen-ta joined the DOH to demand better work ethics among medical doctors in Taiwan. “Superior medical services based on strict self-discipline should be our priority. Otherwise it will be harder and harder to win the trust of our patients.”

The Taiwan Medical Association issued a statement on the same day calling on doctors to preserve their dignity as well as that of their colleagues by practicing more self-discipline and self-respect.

In the statement, the TMA also expressed support for the DOH and the NHI for imposing heavy punishments on the violators.

For the fraudulent claims for NT$370,000 (US$11,729) in NHI payments, KMUH’s Obstetrics and Gynecology Department has been ordered by the DOH to pay a fine of 10 times that amount, or NT$3.7 million.

Andrew T. Huang, president of the Koo Foundation Sun Yat-Sen Cancer Center, noted that changes should be made to the performance assessment system for medical students. “The scheme should not merely be based on test scores, but should take work ethics into account,” he said.

There should also be mentors to lead students to think over which specialization they are genuinely interested in, instead of choosing the most profitable ones, added Huang.

Chen Wei-chao, former president and medical professor of National Taiwan University, said the scandals revealed that there are serious problems with hospital management in Taiwan. But despite the loopholes, medical workers should never have lost their ethics. “I do hope that events such as this will never occur again,” he said. (TYH-HZW)