Taichung: The Taichung District Court has handed down suspended sentences to two doctors for permitting unlicensed device vendors to participate in surgeries at Taichung Veterans General Hospital (TVGH). The court's decision came on Tuesday, with Yang Meng-yin receiving a 16-month sentence and Cheng Wen-yu a 14-month sentence, both suspended for four years. The ruling remains subject to appeal.
According to Focus Taiwan, Yang and Cheng continue to work in TVGH's Department of Neurosurgery. They lost their directorships in oncology and minimally invasive neurosurgery, respectively, after a January referral to prosecutors. In May, Taichung prosecutors charged the doctors with fraud and violations of the Physicians Act. They were accused of allowing three vendors to perform medical procedures illegally during 13 surgeries from March 2023 to October 2025.
The indictment detailed unauthorized procedures such as using electrocautery to stop bleeding, harvesting tissue, implanting screws, and assembling connecting rods. Prosecutors claimed that the defendants concealed the vendors' involvement from patients, charged exorbitant fees, and fraudulently claimed National Health Insurance reimbursements for these unauthorized procedures.
Prosecutors argued for severe penalties, stating that the actions of the physicians undermined medical ethics and violated patients' rights. They further alleged that the vendors shared a portion of the proceeds from medical device sales with the doctors to ensure continued product usage and sales.
According to prosecutors, the five defendants accumulated over NT$1.96 million (US$61,468) in illegal profits. Although three vendors confessed and returned their NT$330,000 share of the illicit gains, prosecutors still demanded appropriate penalties for them. The court sentenced two of the vendors to eight months in prison and the third to one year, all suspended for three years. The vendors have the option to appeal the ruling.