Online Symposium | Review and Prospects of the Kaohsiung Medical University Drug Identification Incident

At the end of 2021, media reports revealed that drug identification results commissioned by judicial authorities and handled by Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital were suspected of misclassifying a category 3 drug as a category 2 drug due to a lack of reference standards. Following the incident, the Taiwan High Prosecutor's Office, in conjunction with the Institute of Forensic Medicine, established a dedicated task force to investigate the incident, audit related cases, and resubmit samples for testing where appropriate. Inquiries show that prosecutorial authorities have filed motions for retrial on behalf of several defendants affected by misjudgments, successfully initiated retrials, and secured not-guilty verdicts in some cases.

The collaborative efforts between prosecutorial authorities and central testing agencies to re-examine whether other similar misjudgments occurred are commendable. Facing emerging psychoactive substances that change rapidly, how can we prevent related incidents from happening again in the future, and how should the identification system be improved? Aspects such as establishing standard operating procedures for laboratories, confirming the necessary equipment and reference standards for testing units, establishing re-testing and auditing mechanisms for testing reports, and setting up error reporting channels are all imperative to discuss.

In this symposium, we have invited Section Chief Tung-Liang Lin of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, Ministry of Justice, and Prosecutor Hui-Chen Ku of the Taiwan High Prosecutor's Office to share insights on the causes, investigation, and corrective actions regarding the Kaohsiung Medical University incident. Drawing from cases of forensic flaws in U.S. laboratories, the Taiwan Association for Innocence will also present on retrospective review mechanisms following the occurrence of errors. Furthermore, Director Te-Yi Weng and Professor Cheng-Lung Li are invited as panelists to discuss ways to further improve Taiwan's drug testing and verification system.

Online Registration

Time

2022/05/28 (Sat.) Online entry at 13:50, starts at 14:00

Venue

Google Meet (subject to the association's account limitations, capped at 90 participants. Please click the link to register and obtain the meeting link)

Speakers

Moderator
Associate Professor Mong-Hwa Chin (School of Law, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University)

Speakers
Section Chief Tung-Liang Lin (Division of Toxicology and Chemistry, Institute of Forensic Medicine, Ministry of Justice)
Prosecutor Hui-Chen Ku (Taiwan High Prosecutor's Office)
Advocacy Director Yun-Ching Ko (Taiwan Association for Innocence)

Panelists
Director Te-Yi Weng (Department and Graduate Institute of Forensic Medicine, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University)
Associate Professor Cheng-Lung Li (Department of Criminal Investigation, Taiwan Police College)

Organizers

Taiwan Association for Innocence
Institute of Forensic Medicine, Ministry of Justice
School of Law, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University
Judicial Reform Foundation

Notice

• Due to the unstable pandemic situation, this session will be held exclusively online via Google Meet. Upon successful registration, the system will automatically send you the meeting URL.
• Limited by the maximum participant capacity of the association's account, this event is restricted to 90 online participants. To avoid affecting the rights of those who have successfully registered, please do not share the meeting link arbitrarily. Thank you for your cooperation.