By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had successful hemorrhoid surgery yesterday at the Taipei Veterans Hospital (TVGH), TVGH president Lin Fang-yu (林芳郁) said yesterday.
The former president is recovering well, Lin told the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
Lin said that Chen, serving a 20-year sentence for corruption, had been well taken care of at TVGH, where he has been staying over the last few months for treatment of various conditions.
Lin said he visited Chen two days ago and confirmed that the former president was suffering from depression, stuttering and symptoms of other chronic neurological diseases.
However, Chen does not have dementia nor spinocerebellar atrophy, a progressive degenerative disease that the former president’s private medical team thought he may be suffering from.
The private medical team feared that Chen, who has fallen four times in his room during his time at TVGH, had a balance disorder, which could be the result of brain damage.
Lin declined to comment on whether Chen’s health qualified him for medical parole, saying that a report would be released in a week or two which would be unbiased and free from political interference.
Former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) visited Chen at the TVGH yesterday and said she believed the hospital would present a professional medical report.
Asked about President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) refusal to grant her husband medical parole, Wu said she had no idea about the latest developments and that reporters should “pose the question to Ma.”
Additional reporting by Staff writer