Taiwan's Department of Health (DOH,
DOH director-general Lee Ming-liang (李明亮) yesterday said that the pill was approved to prevent women from taking the drug on their own, risking excessive bleeding and other dangers.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
According to Lee, thousands of Taiwanese women, most of them teenagers, have illegally obtained the pill from drug stores or the Internet. "Legalizing the drug offered women an alternative form of abortion," Lee said, "and urged doctors to abide by the regulations."
According to DOH regulations, the French-imported RU-486 pill, called Mifepristone (
Meanwhile, patients would be required to have a medical checkup 36 to 48 hours after taking the pill, during which they would have to take a second drug which causes the uterus to expel the embryo.
"Medical supervision is necessary to ensure safe use of the drug," Lee said. Two Taiwan women died and about 1,000 were treated for side-effects from using the drug last year.
In Asia, only Taiwan and China have approved use of RU-486.
According to the DOH, companies involved in the import and distribution of RU-486 must register with authorities. The pill, which was first introduced in France 12 years ago, has been available on Taiwan's black market for several years, and recently on the Internet where the three initial pills cost between NT$4,800 to NT$6,000, local media said.
The pill only costs about NT$500 in a public hospital.
The government has yet to say what steps it will take to prevent illegal sales of the drug. Meanwhile, Lai Shu-mei (賴淑美), head of the Bureau of National Health Insurance (中央健保局), said yesterday the government will pay NT$1,500 for each patient who takes the pill on a doctor's prescription.
More than 42,000 abortions were performed under the national health program last year. However, Secretary-general of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Association Su Tsung-hsien (
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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