Taiwan cancer patients conned
Source: Xinhua |
March 4, 2012, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TAIWAN police and medical practitioners have warned the public against medical scams, after people pretending to be surgeons were found to have conned cancer patients into paying for umbilical cord implants.
Police said fraudsters from a Tainan-based company have performed umbilical cord implants on at least 300 patients in the past three years under the pretext that umbilical cord stem cells can remedy cancer.
The latest case involved a lung cancer patient paying 30,000 new Taiwan dollars (US$1,019) to have a 3.5-cm-long section of umbilical cord implanted in his upper arm.
The man, who is more than 60 years old, found he had been tricked after he reported chest pain to doctors, who told him the implant could lead to an infection.
Police found the company was operating illegally and the individual who did the surgery, whose surname is Lin, was unlicensed.
Police detained company operators, but said Lin had fled Taiwan.
Officers said they believe there's an underground trade in umbilical cords as accoucheurs in Changhua County have reported anonymous callers asking for them without stating their purposes.
The trade of umbilical cords and cord blood is prohibited in Taiwan.
Police said fraudsters from a Tainan-based company have performed umbilical cord implants on at least 300 patients in the past three years under the pretext that umbilical cord stem cells can remedy cancer.
The latest case involved a lung cancer patient paying 30,000 new Taiwan dollars (US$1,019) to have a 3.5-cm-long section of umbilical cord implanted in his upper arm.
The man, who is more than 60 years old, found he had been tricked after he reported chest pain to doctors, who told him the implant could lead to an infection.
Police found the company was operating illegally and the individual who did the surgery, whose surname is Lin, was unlicensed.
Police detained company operators, but said Lin had fled Taiwan.
Officers said they believe there's an underground trade in umbilical cords as accoucheurs in Changhua County have reported anonymous callers asking for them without stating their purposes.
The trade of umbilical cords and cord blood is prohibited in Taiwan.
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