A "whimsical" press release from the Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI) ranking longevity according to star signs that attracted massive media coverage has resulted in the threat of a lawsuit from a man who said his wife's state of mind has been adversely affected by the report.
The bureau received a telephone call from a man complaining that his wife's depression had worsened markedly since she read in the papers that bureau figures showed people with her astrological sign, Aries, lived the shortest lives, according to the Chinese language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister paper).
Saying that his wife had been threatening suicide on a daily basis since reading the reports, the man rebuked the bureau for releasing the analysis and threatened to sue, the story reported.
UNDER ATTACK
The bureau has been under attack ever since its astrological analysis of the Department of Health's 2006 death statistics hit the news stands.
The story was the Chinese-language China Times' front-page story on Wednesday and received prominent coverage in most newspapers.
With an average life span of 74.53 years old, Capricorns were said to be the star sign that live the longest, the bureau release said, followed by Aquarius and Libra. The shortest-living were Aries at 73.43 years old, while Taurus and Leo were the next shortest-lived.
Although the release stressed that the analysis was meant to be "whimsical," that did not stop members of the medical community and the public at large from criticizing the bureau over the move.
"In order to maintain the most basic appearance of the bureau's professionalism, leave the astrology to `star princes,'" ran one letter to the editor in the United Daily News on Jan. 10.
The Taiwan Medical Reform Foundation and the Alliance for the Oversight of the BNHI also weighed in publicly with their disapproval.
Bureau officials said that they'd been blindsided by the amount of bad publicity generated by the foray into fortune-telling.
"News from the bureau had been slow, so we took the opportunity to remind people to take care of themselves," said Chung Yueh-yi (鍾越漪), a deputy executive in the underwriting department of the BNHI.
"Aries tend to be workaholics, Taurus tend to be homebodies who sacrifice too much for their families while Leos tend to focus to much on appearances," Chung said, commenting on the three "shortest-living" star signs.
Chung conceded that the release was probably not scientifically sound.
"It's true, we were only working from one year's data," Chung said.
As for those who reacted negatively to the news, Chung said that she was sure that they were in the minority.
"I'm an Aries myself," Chung said "we're naturally optimistic."
A Taiwanese software developer has created a generative artificial intelligence (AI) model to help people use AI without exposing sensitive data, project head Huang Chung-hsiao (黃崇校) said yesterday. Huang, a 55-year-old coder leading a US-based team, said that concerns over data privacy and security in popular generative AIs such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek motivated him to develop a personal AI assistant named “Mei.” One of the biggest security flaws with cloud-based algorithms is that users are required to hand over personal information to access the service, giving developers the opportunity to mine user data, he said. For this reason, many government agencies and
The National Fire Agency on Thursday said a series of drills simulating a magnitude 8.5 earthquake would be held in September to enhance the government’s emergency response capabilities. Since earthquakes cannot be predicted, only by continuously promoting disaster prevention measures could Taiwan enhance its resilience to earthquakes, agency Director-General Hsiao Huan-chang (蕭煥章) said in a news release. The exercises would be held to mark annual National Disaster Prevention Day on Sept. 21, the aim of which is to test Taiwan’s preparedness and improve its earthquake resilience in case of a major temblor, Hsiao said. As part of those drills, an earthquake alert would
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
STRICTER ENFORCEMENT: Taipei authorities warned against drunk cycling after a sharp rise in riding under the influence, urging greater public awareness of its illegality Taipei authorities have issued a public warning urging people not to ride bicycles after consuming alcohol, following a sharp rise in riding under the influence (DUI) cases involving bicycles. Five hundred and seven people were charged with DUI last year while riding YouBikes, personal bicycles, or other self-propelled two-wheelers — a fourfold increase from the previous year, data released by the Taipei Police Department’s Traffic Division showed. Of these, 33 cases were considered severe enough to be prosecuted under “offenses against public safety,” the data showed. Under the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例), bicycles — including YouBikes and other
RSS