Sat, Jun 08, 2024 page3

• Taiwan News Quick Take

  • Staff writer, with CNA
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  HEALTH

  Medicines recalled

  Two brands of antibiotics are being recalled after failing a visual inspection and inaccurately presenting data, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported on Thursday. A total of 4,590 bottles of Azithrom Powder for Oral Suspension from Anxo Pharmaceutical Co (瑩碩生技) with batch number 221123 have been ordered to be recalled by Thursday next week, following tip-offs about apparent caked lumps inside the powder, FDA Deputy Director-General Wang Der-yuan (王德原) said. The antibiotic, which has azithromycin dihydrate as its main ingredient, is usually used to treat upper and lower respiratory tract diseases, sexually transmitted diseases, skin, soft tissues and otitis media. Last year, 52,160 bottles of the brand were used under the National Health Insurance program, accounting for 53.6 percent of the market, Wang said, adding that the recall would not affect antibiotic supply. Long Life Nutraceutical International Co was also instructed to recall 2,020 vials of Colistar Lyo Inj that it commissioned Genovior Biotech Corp to make, after the bioassay data was found to be inaccurate, Wang said. The 2,020 vials of Colistar Lyo Inj with batch number 900060AA001 must be fully recalled by July 24, the recall announcement said.

  SOCIETY

  Soldier’s body found

  The body of an air force soldier who drowned while swimming in the Keelung River was found yesterday morning, police said. Police and firefighters found a body at 9:05am about 600m from Dazhi Bridge, police said. The body was confirmed to be that of an air force soldier surnamed Chiang (江), they said. According to police, they were notified at 9:50pm on Tuesday that a person went missing at Meiti Riverside Park after jumping into the water. The initial results of a police investigation found that the 27-year-old Chiang, who was off-duty at the time, was drinking with his cousin at the riverside park when he “jokingly dared his cousin to swim to and from the other side,” police said. He then immediately jumped into the river and started swimming, police said. Chiang’s cousin, who remained on the shore, was scrolling his phone when he noticed that Chiang had disappeared after swimming to the middle of the river and called the police, they said.

  EDUCATION

  Teachers might strike

  Foreign teachers working at English-language teaching centers run by the British Council Taiwan are to vote on Tuesday on whether to strike, after their demands for a pay increase following a 20-year pay freeze were rejected, the Taiwan Higher Education Union said on Wednesday. If the vote is in favor of taking industrial action, the strike could start as early as the end of this month, it said. Union researcher Chen Po-chien (陳柏謙) said that despite tuition fees having surged by about 35 percent since 2016, and the consumer price index having increased by at least 25 percent over the past 20 years, English teachers at British Council Taiwan have not had a pay raise in 20 years. The union in a press release said after five rounds of negotiations, which were followed by mediation by the Taipei Department of Labor, British Council Taiwan still refuses to provide a reasonable pay increase, and the teachers have no choice but to proceed with a strike vote. Chen previously said that about two-thirds of British Council Taiwan teachers are members of the union. The union entered negotiations with the British Council Taiwan management in accordance with the law and proposed a minimum 25 percent pay hike for the teachers, Chen said.
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