Taipei: The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has revoked the medical license of a prominent transplant specialist for illegally arranging organ transplant procedures for Taiwanese patients in China, Health Minister Shih Chung-liang said Tuesday. The case, which involves Chen Yao-li, a former deputy superintendent at Chung Shan Medical University Hospital in Taichung, marks the first time in Taiwan that a physician has had his license revoked for illegally brokering organ transplants, Shih said.
According to Focus Taiwan, the MOHW's medical review committee recently completed its review of the case, prompting the ministry to issue the disciplinary action last week. Speaking to reporters, Shih stated that Chen was found by the Changhua District Court to have repeatedly arranged for Taiwanese patients to undergo organ transplant procedures overseas, conduct that seriously violated medical ethics and the Human Organ Transplant Act.
Under the law, medical professionals are prohibited from acting as intermediaries in organ transplant cases, and serious violations can result in the revocation of their medical licenses. Court records showed that Chen began referring patients to hospitals in China for liver and kidney transplants in 2008 and received NT$14.66 million (US$488,000) in illegal gains from the arrangements.
He was convicted on nine counts of illegally brokering organ transplants in violation of the Human Organ Transplant Act and sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for five years. The court also ordered him to pay NT$5 million to the state treasury and forfeit his illicit profits.
Shih noted that Taiwan has previously revoked physicians' licenses in cases involving insurance fraud and illegal drug use. However, Chen's case is the first in which a doctor has lost his license for arranging overseas organ transplant procedures.