Focus Taiwan
Date: 12/07/2020
By: Chen Wei-ting and Chiang Yi-ching

Taipei, Dec. 7 (CNA) A study carried out earlier this year by the Changhua County Public Health Bureau and National Taiwan University (NTU), which involved testing people for COVID-19 antibodies, has been found to have violated research laws, a health official said on Monday.

Speaking to reporters, Liu Yueh-ping (劉越萍), head of the Department of Medical Affairs at the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), said the study was found to have violated the Human Subjects Research Act.

Under the act, researchers have to submit their research plans to an Institutional Review Board (IRB) and obtain board approval before they can begin the research process.

However, officials at the Changhua health bureau and researchers at NTU's College of Public Health began their research process before NTU's IRB approved of their plan, making the research illegal, Liu said.    [FULL  STORY]