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Home The News News Chen suffering from ‘severe’ depression: Veterans Hospital

Chen suffering from ‘severe’ depression: Veterans Hospital

Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is suffering from “severe” depression and requires psychiatric treatment, Taipei Veterans General Hospital (TVGH) said yesterday.

Chen, serving a 17-and-a-half-year prison term on corruption charges, was treated at Taoyuan General Hospital last month after he developed urinary problems and was later transferred to Taipei Veterans for a comprehensive check-up, authorities said.

“Chen was diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety disorder, both of which have become chronic,” Veterans said in a statement, without elaborating.

It recommended further treatment at a specialized hospital.

Chen has also developed a stutter, which might be linked to mental illness or a degeneration of his brain, as well as problems with his prostate and sleep apnea — a sleep disorder characterized by abnormal breathing — the hospital said.

Chen sought medical parole earlier this year when he was diagnosed with a narrowing of his coronary arteries, but the Ministry of Justice denied it on the ground that he could get proper treatment in prison.

TVGH said it would hold a press conference today and brief the public on how Chen’s condition has progressed since he was admitted on Sept. 21.

At that time, hospital vice superintendent Chen Tain-hsiung (陳天雄) said a team comprised of at least 10 urologists, neurologists and psychiatrists had been assembled to examine the former president using non-invasive methods such as MRI scans and ultrasound scans.

Chen and family members were accused in a complex network of cases of sending political donations and secret diplomatic funds abroad, money laundering and taking kickbacks on government contracts.

Chen has said that the legal action against him is a political vendetta carried out by the Beijing-friendly government in retaliation for his policies promoting Taiwan’s independence while in power.

Source: Taipei Times - 2012/10/05



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Newsflash

Academics yesterday criticized a proposed amendment to the Regulations Governing the Approval and Administration of Direct Cross-Strait Sea Transport between the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區海運直航許可管理辦法), saying that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration is threatening national security by allowing “all kinds of Chinese ships to navigate freely in the waters around Taiwan.”

The Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) states that no Chinese vessels may enter restricted or prohibited waters in Taiwan’s territory unless permitted by the relevant authorities.