In his denial to the Legislative Yuan to legalize euthanasia (“Government cannot take lead in law on euthanasia: Hsueh,” April 27, page 2), I suggest Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) should come clean and admit that his ministry, through selective neglect of national health insurance, is responsible for countless assisted deaths. Denying insurance coverage for serious cancer patients is the same as pulling feeding tubes for assisted suicide.
I am referring to advanced-care cancer patients who are deprived of critically needed medicines due to the National Health Insurance policy to cut funding to counter high costs, with the excuse that the NHI “can’t cover everybody.”
By failing to cover the seriously ill, is this not de facto assisted suicide? Whatever happened to the ministry’s slogan of Health for All?
As a cancer patient and a Taiwanese citizen with lymphoma, I am currently deprived of all insurance funding for my essential medication (Opdivo), for which there is no known substitute. That means that every fortnight, I have to pay out of pocket more than NT$48,000 for an injection, and that comes to nearly NT$100,000 each month.
Last year, it was shocking to learn from my oncologist at Taipei Medical University that tens of thousands of people are like me. Many are bankrupt or facing it, or just scrapping by covering costs. Many who cannot get their medicine without assistance give up and wait, likely with NHI “life-extending care,” for certain death by cancer without their vital medication.
Hsueh, as a lawyer, likely knows that late-term cancer patients make easy targets. They are elderly, distracted by illness and depression, lack resources, are often shut in and lack contact — and are well conditioned not to question bureaucratic decisions that will end their lives. Is this not the moment for all medical staff and officials to rally to the Hippocratic Oath, stand up and do their utmost for vulnerable patients? Was this not the vision of health insurance?
Last year, in the first term of my cancer, my doctor told me that I was “lucky,” as there are only limited cancer patients covered through a type of “lottery system.” Apparently, that lottery selects who gets covered while the others get bumped. This year, my coverage term ran out and that cancer lottery went against me, and I have joined the many Taiwanese in an isolated journey without end.
Curtis Smith is founder of the Union of TAITRA Workers.
To The Honorable Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜): We would like to extend our sincerest regards to you for representing Taiwan at the inauguration of US President Donald Trump on Monday. The Taiwanese-American community was delighted to see that Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan speaker not only received an invitation to attend the event, but successfully made the trip to the US. We sincerely hope that you took this rare opportunity to share Taiwan’s achievements in freedom, democracy and economic development with delegations from other countries. In recent years, Taiwan’s economic growth and world-leading technology industry have been a source of pride for Taiwanese-Americans.
Next week, the nation is to celebrate the Lunar New Year break. Unfortunately, cold winds are a-blowing, literally and figuratively. The Central Weather Administration has warned of an approaching cold air mass, while obstinate winds of chaos eddy around the Legislative Yuan. English theologian Thomas Fuller optimistically pointed out in 1650 that “it’s always darkest before the dawn.” We could paraphrase by saying the coldest days are just before the renewed hope of spring. However, one must temper any optimism about the damage being done in the legislature by the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), under
To our readers: Due to the Lunar New Year holiday, from Sunday, Jan. 26, through Sunday, Feb. 2, the Taipei Times will have a reduced format without our regular editorials and opinion pieces. From Tuesday to Saturday the paper will not be delivered to subscribers, but will be available for purchase at convenience stores. Subscribers will receive the editions they missed once normal distribution resumes on Sunday, Feb. 2. The paper returns to its usual format on Monday, Feb. 3, when our regular editorials and opinion pieces will also be resumed.
This year would mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the India Taipei Association (ITA) in Taipei and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC) in New Delhi. From the vision of “Look East” in the 1990s, India’s policy has evolved into a resolute “Act East,” which complements Taiwan’s “New Southbound Policy.” In these three decades, India and Taiwan have forged a rare partnership — one rooted in shared democratic values, a commitment to openness and pluralism, and clear complementarities in trade and technology. The government of India has rolled out the red carpet for Taiwanese investors with attractive financial incentives
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