An uproar has been caused in Taiwanfollowing allegations that teachers at a kindergarten in New Taipei are accused of they put children on cough syrups, which contained narcotic drugs, such as phenobarbital and benzodiazepines.
Police have been investigating for weeks and say it is unclear why the children received these addictive syrups. But the scandal has sparked protests by the children’s families outside government buildings.
Hundreds took part in a demonstration in the city New Taipei on Sunday, calling for greater transparency from the police investigation. Among them, there were many who they criticized the authorities for the lack of publicizing the case.
Additionally, on Monday, a separate case emerged involving a dispensary in the southern city of Kaohsiung, on the other side of the island. There, the local health service found four doctors guilty of misbehavior and inappropriate use of phenobarbital in approximately 20 children. They were ordered to suspend their practice for six months and fined NT$1.4 million (US$46,121).
Amid growing public concern, the city’s hospital Taipei began offering free blood tests for pre-school children to check for traces of sedatives.
The measures come after the first appearance of the scandal Maywhen parents at a private kindergarten in New Taipei accused the staff of gave their children “unknown drugs”. Mike, father of a five-year-old, told the bbc.com that the parents had noticed something that seemed to be deprivation symptoms in their children during the holidays in February.
“Some parents found that their children, during the holidays, had become irritable, anxiously and they cried when they slept, while he was complaining, even with leg cramps“, he said.
After speaking with the children, the parents learned that their teachers had ‘fed’ them an ‘unknown potion’. The complaints were filed with police in April and May. After more complaints from parents in June, local authorities launched an investigation and found at least eight children with traces of phenobarbital and benzodiazepines – a class psychoactive drugs – in their body.
THE kindergarten at the center of the controversy, was ordered to close on June 12. Its directors were fined NT$150,000 (US$4,872). The principal and five teachers were arrested and were interrogated by the police, but since then they were released on bail. However, the criminal investigation is ongoing.
Local media reported that the staff stated that parents had consented to a school-provided medication list; but some parents questioned the drugs used by the school.
A Taiwanese pharmacist told local media that, although rare, some cough and gastrointestinal medicines contain phenobarbital. Medicines containing phenobarbital are mainly used to treat epilepsy or are used as surgical anesthesia and are difficult to find.
The benzodiazepines is a class sedative drugs commonly used to treat severe anxiety. The drugs are highly addictive and overdose can lead to drowsiness and shortness of breath.
Source: News Beast
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